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A bridge over the New Dhaleshwari River at Jokarchar in Tangail’s Kalihati upazila has remained incomplete for six years due to contractors’ negligence, poor performance and disputes among joint-venture partners.
The 264-metre bridge was planned as a key alternative route to the Dhaka-Jamuna Bridge highway, but construction has stalled after only three piers were built. The prolonged delay has caused severe hardship for hundreds of thousands of people in Tangail Sadar and Kalihati.
According to the Tangail office of the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), a road has already been constructed from Gol Chattar in Mahmudnagar on the western side of Tangail Sadar to the highway at the eastern end of the Jamuna Bridge.
Once completed, the Jokarchar bridge will connect the road to the highway and provide an alternative route to the Dhaka-Jamuna Bridge highway.
LGED invited a tender for construction of the 264-metre PSC girder bridge at an estimated cost of Tk 34.14 crore. A joint venture comprising Haider Construction Private Limited, Aboni Enterprise and contractor Syed Mujibur Rahman was awarded the work order on September 13, 2020.
The project was scheduled to be completed by September 12, 2023.
However, work did not begin for around one and a half years because of disagreements and conflicts among the joint-venture partners. Later, Syed Mujibur Rahman started construction after investing around Tk 3 crore in April 2021.
Mujibur alleged that another partner, Aboni Enterprise proprietor Md Hekmat Ali, subsequently stopped the work by bringing people to the construction site. The dispute eventually led to legal battles and counter-cases among the partners.
At the site, only two piers on the left bank and one on the right bank have been completed.
Despite the limited progress, Hekmat Ali allegedly withdrew Tk 9.81 crore from LGED as payment for the work completed.
Local residents said people associated with different contractors occasionally visit the site, take measurements and bring construction materials before leaving again. As a result, they remain uncertain about who is actually responsible for completing the bridge.
The dispute took another turn when Hekmat Ali allegedly sold the construction work to Gazipur-based contractor Rafiqul Islam using forged signatures of the other two joint-venture partners.
Rafiqul said he had paid Hekmat Ali Tk 2.58 crore for piling and other construction work. After learning that signatures had allegedly been forged, he protested and claimed he was detained at a resort in Elenga, where his contractual documents were taken back. His work was subsequently stopped, and he said he had not received his money back.
Mujibur also alleged that Hekmat had forcibly stopped his work after he had invested Tk 3 crore in the project.
Following the change of government on August 5 last year, Hekmat went into hiding, bringing construction of the important bridge to a complete halt.
Meanwhile, considering public suffering, LGED floated a fresh tender on March 9 this year. The estimated cost was set at Tk 34.45 crore, and Chowdhury-Elhoz Joint Venture was selected as the new contractor.
The new contractor has been given 22 months to complete the bridge.
Residents said completion of the bridge would significantly improve connectivity between Tangail town, western and southwestern areas and the northern region. It would also provide an alternative route to Elenga and help reduce traffic pressure on the Dhaka-Jamuna Bridge highway, particularly during Eid holidays.
They demanded that construction be completed as soon as possible to end the prolonged suffering of commuters.
Tangail LGED Executive Engineer Jahanara Parvin said the project could not be completed on time because of disagreements and a lack of coordination among the contractors.
“The contractors have been paid for the work they completed,” she said, adding that a new contractor has already been selected through a fresh tender.
She expressed hope that the bridge would be completed within the stipulated timeframe this time.