A bridge over the New Dhaleshwari River at Jokarchar in Tangail’s Kalihati Upazila has remained incomplete for six years, leaving hundreds of thousands of people facing severe transport difficulties as the project remains stuck at just three pillars.
The delay has been blamed on contractor negligence, slow progress and alleged irregularities. After carrying out only limited work, the contractor reportedly withdrew nearly Tk10 crore in payments, while the long-awaited bridge has failed to serve its purpose as an alternative route to the Jamuna Bridge-Dhaka highway.
According to Tangail Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) sources, a road has already been constructed from Gol Chattar in Mahmudnagar, the western char area of Tangail Sadar, to the eastern end of the Jamuna Bridge highway. The construction of the bridge at Jokarchar was planned to complete the alternative route.
For the project, LGED invited tenders for a 264-metre prestressed concrete (PSC) girder bridge over the New Dhaleshwari River at an estimated cost of Tk34.14 crore. A joint venture of Haydar Construction Private Limited, Oboni Enterprise and Syed Mojibur Rahman was awarded the work, with the work order issued on 13 September 2020.
A visit to the site found that only three pillars had been built — two on the left bank and one on the right bank of the river. The main contractor, Md Hekmat Ali, reportedly withdrew Tk9.81 crore from LGED as payment against the work.
Local residents said different groups of people occasionally arrive at the site, carry out measurements, bring construction materials and leave, leaving them uncertain about who is actually responsible for completing the bridge.
According to the agreement with LGED, the bridge was scheduled to be completed by 12 September 2023. However, disputes among the joint venture partners delayed the work. The partners reportedly failed to begin construction for around one and a half years after receiving the work order.
Syed Mojibur Rahman, one of the joint venture partners, said he started construction after investing Tk3 crore in April 2021. He alleged that Hekmat Ali, owner of Oboni Enterprise, later halted the work.
“Two partners, Hekmat and Haydar, gave me responsibility for constructing the bridge through a written agreement on stamp paper. I invested Tk3 crore in April 2021. Suddenly, Hekmat brought people and stopped my work, saying he would construct the bridge himself,” he said.
The dispute later escalated into legal battles. Syed Mojibur alleged that Hekmat Ali sold the project to a Gazipur-based contractor, Rafiqul Islam, by forging the signatures of the other two partners.
Rafiqul Islam claimed that Hekmat Ali had deceived him as well. He said he paid Tk2.58 crore to Hekmat for piling and construction work. After discovering the alleged forgery, he protested and claimed he was detained at Elenga Resort and forced to return all contract documents.
He said he had not received any money back so far, while Hekmat had already withdrawn Tk9.81 crore after constructing only three pillars. Following the change of government on 5 August, Hekmat went into hiding, bringing the bridge work to a complete halt.
Meanwhile, considering public suffering, LGED floated a fresh tender for the bridge on 9 March this year. The estimated cost was revised to Tk34.44 crore. The construction work has now been awarded to Chowdhury-Elhoz Joint Venture, which has been given 22 months to complete the project.
Residents of Jokarchar said the bridge is crucial for creating an alternative route to the Jamuna Bridge-Dhaka highway. Once completed, people from Tangail town and the western and southern parts of the district will be able to travel to northern districts more easily.
They said the alternative route would also help reduce traffic congestion on the highway during Eid journeys and urged authorities to complete the project quickly to ease public suffering.
Tangail LGED Executive Engineer Jahanara Parveen said the project was delayed due to disputes among the contractors.
“The contractors failed to complete the work on time because of disagreements among themselves. However, payments were made for the work they completed. A new tender has been floated and a contractor has been selected. We hope the bridge will be completed within the stipulated timeframe,” she said.
