The Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) has yet to start the renovation of a vulnerable footbridge in Farmgate area which has been closed off for public use since July, causing pedestrians to brave huge risk to cross one of the busiest roads in the capital.
The DNCC authorities shut down the reinforced concrete footbridge when a team of experts from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) assessed and declared it unstable, also suggesting that the authorities carry out a feasibility study for its renovation, officials at the DNCC said.
Several commuters claimed that the delay in the renovation work was “forcing” pedestrians to cross the street in the city’s busiest intersection – the footbridge connects the western point of Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue near Ananda Cinema Hall in Farmgate to its eastern point near Tejgaon Government Girls High School – though there are two other footbridges in the area.
Suman Saha, a resident of East Rajabazar, said: “Though there are two other footbridges nearby, a huge number of people come to the intersection for buses when offices close in the evening. This rush is too big for those footbridges to accommodate.
“Due to the rush, I go to the intersection by walking across the busy road with speeding vehicles, fearing for my life,” he said.
The authorities concerned had taken no initiative to repair and open the footbridge for public use since they shut it down more than three months ago, he claimed.
Shahara Islam, resident of Nakhalpara, said: “We heard the city corporation would repair the footbridge, we have yet to see anything happen. Every day we have brave crossing the road through heavy, speeding traffic.”
She also claimed that women, children and elderly people faced most difficulties in crossing the road.
When contacted, Syed Kudratullah, additional chief engineer at the DNCC, told the Dhaka Tribune: “The metro rail project covers Farmgate, so before taking any final decision for the footbridge, we have to consider that project.”
He also said the DNCC authorities had contacted the Buet experts to conduct a feasibility study on the footbridge. “The final decision will taken after we receive the Buet experts’ recommendations,” he said.
However, an expert from Buet shot down Kudratullah’s excuse of the metro rail project impeding the footbridge’s repair work.
“It is a baseless excuse,” he told the Dhaka Tribune, seeking anonymity.
