Dhurang Bridge brings hope for millions
Saturday, 2 October 2010
CHITTAGONG, Oct 01: The other day Satish Chakma was counting the sale proceeds from his vegetables sitting under a tree on the Laksmichhari Road, about 500 yards off the newly built Dhurang Bridge. He looked happy with the money he had earned.
"I have earned a good amount by selling my vegetables," he said with a burning Churut (a local brand of cigarette) in the right hand when asked why he was sitting alone in the evening."
"Our products bring money these days. We could not sell our vegetables so long. People in our locality produced different kinds of kitchen goods mostly for our own consumptions as there is no big market to sell them," he said adding they are producing more now and selling to the buyers from the town area.
Nur Mohammed, a vegetables vendor from Fatikchhari Bibirhat, said supply of greenstuffs is in abundance in the Fatikchhari-Laksmichhari border but they could not come here due to communication problem.
"For the last three months we have been selling goods at Bibirhat near Fatikchari upazila headquarter and also in the town area. We often cross the Dhurang Bridge to get vegetables in good volume and take them to the city's Bahaddarhat and Reazuddin Bazar by mini trucks," Nur said.
Sawdagars (wholesalers) from the city sometimes visit the greenstuffs-rich area to make sales contract with the farmers directly, he said.
Both Chakma and Nur said the newly built bridge on the Dhurang Khal has paved way for them to earn their livelihood, which was their long cherished desire.
"It was our long dream that one day we could cross the Dhurang canal by motorized vehicles," Nur stated.
For the last three months mini trucks, vans, taxies and even cars have been plying across the bridge to the hill district of Rangamati with people and goods, day in, day out.
Md Selim Chowdhury from Kanchannagar village of Fatikchhari told the FE the bridge has opened up new vistas for booming up rural economy apart from linking the two remote upazilas: Fatikchhari of Chittagong and Laksmichhari of Rangamati.
The 126-metre RCC-bridge on Dhurang Khal was constructed recently at the cost of Tk 38.8 million funded by the local government engineering department (LGED) under LGRD ministry at the initiative of advisor of the former caretaker government M Anwarul Iqbal.
The advantage of the bridge is that the people from both sides of the two districts now feel safe and relieved as the once notorious criminal gangs have fled away from the dense forest because members of the Laksmichhari army camp have beefed up patrol in hunt for them across the bridge by their vehicles.
The camp now is hardly 50 metres off the bridge that has connected Engineer Farhad Chowdhury and Laksmichari Road via Dhurang union council.
"I have earned a good amount by selling my vegetables," he said with a burning Churut (a local brand of cigarette) in the right hand when asked why he was sitting alone in the evening."
"Our products bring money these days. We could not sell our vegetables so long. People in our locality produced different kinds of kitchen goods mostly for our own consumptions as there is no big market to sell them," he said adding they are producing more now and selling to the buyers from the town area.
Nur Mohammed, a vegetables vendor from Fatikchhari Bibirhat, said supply of greenstuffs is in abundance in the Fatikchhari-Laksmichhari border but they could not come here due to communication problem.
"For the last three months we have been selling goods at Bibirhat near Fatikchari upazila headquarter and also in the town area. We often cross the Dhurang Bridge to get vegetables in good volume and take them to the city's Bahaddarhat and Reazuddin Bazar by mini trucks," Nur said.
Sawdagars (wholesalers) from the city sometimes visit the greenstuffs-rich area to make sales contract with the farmers directly, he said.
Both Chakma and Nur said the newly built bridge on the Dhurang Khal has paved way for them to earn their livelihood, which was their long cherished desire.
"It was our long dream that one day we could cross the Dhurang canal by motorized vehicles," Nur stated.
For the last three months mini trucks, vans, taxies and even cars have been plying across the bridge to the hill district of Rangamati with people and goods, day in, day out.
Md Selim Chowdhury from Kanchannagar village of Fatikchhari told the FE the bridge has opened up new vistas for booming up rural economy apart from linking the two remote upazilas: Fatikchhari of Chittagong and Laksmichhari of Rangamati.
The 126-metre RCC-bridge on Dhurang Khal was constructed recently at the cost of Tk 38.8 million funded by the local government engineering department (LGED) under LGRD ministry at the initiative of advisor of the former caretaker government M Anwarul Iqbal.
The advantage of the bridge is that the people from both sides of the two districts now feel safe and relieved as the once notorious criminal gangs have fled away from the dense forest because members of the Laksmichhari army camp have beefed up patrol in hunt for them across the bridge by their vehicles.
The camp now is hardly 50 metres off the bridge that has connected Engineer Farhad Chowdhury and Laksmichari Road via Dhurang union council.