Gossaigaon: The collapse of a dilapidated wooden bridge over the Haraputa river at Abed Ali Ghat, under the 3 No. Srirampur BTC constituency in Kokrajhar district, has once again brought to the fore what residents describe as years of administrative neglect during the previous UPPL-led BTC government. Four passengers were injured when an e-rickshaw plunged into the river after the ageing bridge gave way while connecting 2 No. Bhomrabil and Haraputa villages.
Soon after the incident, leaders of the BPF-led Council, including Srirampur constituency TCLC president and advocate Mokhlesur Rahman, Bhomrabil VCDC president Anwar Hussain Khan and several party workers, visited the site and interacted with affected residents.
Locals sharply criticised the former UPPL-led BTC administration for what they termed “criminal indifference” to repeated warnings about the unsafe condition of as many as five wooden bridges over the Haraputa river in the Srirampur area, a neglected region along the Assam–Bengal border. They alleged that despite several accidents and public representations over the years, the previous BTC government failed to initiate either permanent construction or even basic repairs.
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Residents recalled that during the 2020 by-election to the Gossaigaon Assembly constituency, several top leaders, including Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, former Chief Executive Member Pramod Boro and former MCLA Sajal Kumar Singh, had publicly promised to replace the dilapidated wooden bridges with permanent structures. “Those assurances remained confined to election platforms, while the UPPL-led BTC government chose to look the other way,” locals alleged.
Speaking on the burning issue, TCLC president Mokhlesur Rahman said the bridge was crucial for daily movement of villagers across the constituency. “Despite repeated appeals, the previous UPPL-led BTC government ignored the deteriorating condition of the bridge, forcing people to risk their lives every day,” he said, adding that patients, students and daily commuters were compelled to take a detour of nearly five kilometres due to the unsafe crossing.
Rahman said the latest incident, in which an e-rickshaw was completely wrecked and four passengers seriously injured, was a direct consequence of prolonged official apathy. With traffic through the bridge now completely disrupted, he assured that immediate steps would be taken for temporary restoration and that initiatives would be launched to ensure permanent construction of key bridges, including the Bhomrabil Bazar–Serfanguri connecting bridge, Goladangi Chandighat bridge, Majm Dewani Ghat bridge and several bridges in the Jamduar constituency.
