A decades-old iron structured bridge on a canal at Karatia in Sadar upazila has turned awfully dilapidated, posing risk of accidents any time.

Hundreds of vehicles, including passenger buses, still ply the risky 80-year-old bridge on old Dhaka-Tangail road every day.
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Elderly locals said the bridge was constructed on Sundari Canal during the British era.

"Freedom fighters blew up the bridge partially during the Liberation War in 1971 to resist movement of the Pakistani forces through the road," valiant freedom fighter Bir Protik Habibur Rahman Khan Khoka said.

After the independence, the bridge was repaired and road communication was restored once again.

Since then the bridge was renovated on only a few occasions, several senior locals said.

During a recent visit to the area this correspondent saw the worn out bridge starts shaking whenever a heavy vehicle crosses it.  The foundation deck and many other parts of the old bridge also got rusty.

"I get scare every time I cross the shaky old bridge with passengers," bus driver Saiful said.

Besides, hundreds of students of nearby Government Saadat College and two other schools and people, who come to the century-old Karatia Bazar, also use the bridge.

Contacted, Tangail Sadar Upazila Parishad Chairman Shahjahan Ansary, also a local resident, said as far he remember the bridge was built in 1940.

The authorities concerned should construct a new bridge in place of the older one immediately to avoid any fatal accident, he said adding that he already raised the matter on several occasions.

However, despite repeated attempts, this correspondent could not reach any of the Roads and Highways officials for their comment.