Residents of at least 10 villages in Surmapar under Sylhet’s Kanaighat Upazila have no other choice but cross Surma River through makeshift bamboo bridges.
Since independence, over 50,000 residents have relied on boats during the monsoon and makeshift bamboo or wooden walkways in winter.
The absence of a bridge has effectively isolated two neighbouring upazilas, Kanaighat and Zakiganj, making travel, education, healthcare and economic activities difficult and often perilous.
Kanaighat’s Lakshiprasadpurbo Union sits like an island surrounded by hills and rivers. Meghalaya lies to its south and east, Zakiganj to the north, and Kanaighat town to the west.
Thousands of people from several villages in Kanaighat rely on the route through Kajalshah Union’s Aatgram area in Zakiganj.
Locals said people from Karaballa, Kandigram, Borchatol, Majhgram, Phataura, Eraligul, Dana Bazar, Surma Bazar, Bakuri, Ratachhara, Khasiapunji, Ratonergul, Balichhara and Nagoordi cross the river regularly.
Several thousand people travel to the district town daily via Zakiganj.
Many also cross the Surma to sell bananas, oranges, jackfruit, lotkon and guavas brought from the hills, or to collect water from Khasiapunji and visit the Lovachhara stone quarry.
Tourists visit Khasiapunji, abandoned Petrobangla sites and nearby hill areas throughout the year, making travel to the union even more frequent.
Fakhr Uddin Chowdhury of Borchatol village said several primary schools exist in the union, but not a single good secondary school or college.
“Children must cross the Surma every day to continue their studies. Watching them take such risks is heartbreaking.”
“For the elderly and the ill, crossing the river is even more dangerous,” he said.
“To take someone to the district hospital, we have to rely on boats or shaky walkways. Each bank of the river carries countless stories of accidents,” he added.
Abdur Rouf, a schoolteacher, said the demand for a bridge has existed since independence. “Surveys have been conducted many times, but nothing has happened. By year’s end, the result is always zero.”
“Because of one missing bridge, life on either side of the Surma is completely different,” he said. “An entire union lags in education, healthcare and development. In this era, it is unthinkable that such neglect continues.”
Private sector employee Abdul Gani of Borchatol said even before he was born, villagers were demanding a bridge. “Decades have passed, but nothing changed.”
“It feels as though we have no one,” he said, adding that former MPs had also made promises that were never fulfilled.
Ali Ahmed, the ghat manager, said fear and accidents are common when using bamboo walkways.
“That’s why a wooden walkway has been built again this year, like last time,” he said.
Asked about the matter, Amir Hossain, executive engineer of the Sylhet Road Division, said no proposal for a new bridge at this location has come to his office since he joined.
“If any proposal was previously sent to the ministry, I am not aware of it. It needs to be looked into,” he said.
