A portion of the deck of the Bailey bridge over the Bayarahala River in Madan upazila of Netrakona collapsed on Friday morning, leading to a halt in movement of all types of vehicles to and from the district headquarters.
Road communication with Khaliajuri upazila has also been suspended for the same reason.
As a result, commuters' sufferings have reached extreme level in the areas.
There are two Bailey bridges on the 30 kilometre road from Netrakona town to Madan upazila headquarters.
One of the bridges was built in 1993 on the Bayarahala River near Joypasha village in Madan upazila, measuring 95 meters in length and 12 feet in width.
The age-old bridge is very much risky for use at more than a hundred plates of it are in a shaky condition.
The bridge starts shaking with a loud noise whenever heavy vehicles get onto it.
This road is the only means of communication between Madan and Khaliajuri with the district headquarters. People from different villages of Atpara upazila also use this road for communication.
According to locals, the deck of the Bailey bridge breaks two or three times every month.
Although broken portions of the bridge are immediately repaired, they suffer same kinds of damage again within a few days.
The ramshackle state of the bridge poses risk of accident any moment causing death or fatal injuries.
Locals have raised the demand that the government immediately demolish the old and vulnerable bridge over the Boyarahala River and build a new one three soon.
Contacted Union Parishad chairman Safayat Ullah Royal said the Boyharahala Bailey bridge is in a risky state for the rundown deck.
The authorities should give a permanent solution to this immediately. Otherwise, a fatal accident might happen at any time.
However, sources at the Roads and Highways Department (RHD), Netrakona, said work on a new bridge over the river will start very soon.
Project proposal has been sent to the higher authorities and new bridge will be constructed as soon as the proposal gets approval.
