200-year-old bridge in Sylhet being demolished to widen road
The bridge was constructed on a road to connect the house of Vaishnava religious reformer Sri Chaitanya in Golapganj upazila of Sylhet
The Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) is demolishing a nearly 200-year-old bridge as part of a road widening project in Sylhet's Golapganj.
Some parts of the bridge, which is locally known as "Dewan's Pool", have already been demolished despite opposition from the local people and activists.
On Wednesday, the LGED announced the temporary suspension of the demolition works after a group of environmental activists visited the site and demanded the architectural landmark be preserved.
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Local people said the then dewan of Sylhet, an official designated to collect revenue, Ghulam Roy constructed a road in the Golapganj upazila around 200 years ago to connect the house of Hindu Vaishnava mystic and religious reformer Sri Chaitanya.
The 20 feet by 16 feet bridge was built on the road over the Deorbhaga canal in the Bausha area.
According to the Golapganj upazila engineering office, recently, initiatives have been taken to widen the road. As part of this, a new 99 feet by 32 feet bridge will be constructed by demolishing the old bridge at a cost of TK3.22 crore. The demolition works began three days earlier.
Leaders of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (Bapa), Sylhet visited the site on Wednesday morning and demanded the demolition works be stopped. They also urged the authorities to repair the parts of the historical bridge which have already been damaged.
Abdul Karim, general secretary of Bapa, Sylhet, said, "The process of destroying heritage is going on everywhere in the country in the name of development. This destruction is being done by the government which is very sad."
He further said, "We have talked to the officials of the Department of Archaeology. They said that it is possible to restore the demolished part of the bridge and bring it back to its original state. So, we have demanded the local administration to protect the bridge."
Meanwhile, the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) has temporarily suspended the demolition works of the bridge after the visit of the Bapa activists.
Md Mahmudul Hasan, upazila engineer in Golapganj, said, "As everyone is calling for the preservation of the bridge, the contractor has been instructed to stop the demolition work temporarily. A decision will be taken on this, later."
He said, "The bridge has lost its capacity to carry heavy vehicles. So, the initiative to build a new bridge has been taken."
"The position of the old bridge is 100% straight with the road. Therefore, there is no opportunity to construct an alternative bridge there. Big boats cannot move beneath the bridge through the canal due to the pillars," he further said.
