Damaged Bailey Bridge Cuts Off Dasarathpur Villagers, Urgent Reconstruction Demanded

Rabindranath Biswas
Dasarathpur, 28 January: The residents of Dasarathpur and its adjoining areas under Dasarathpur Gram Panchayat have been facing severe commuting woes owing to the damaged and closed Bailey bridge at Magar Nallah for the last couple of years.
According to information, the Bailey bridge constructed by the APWD, Rangat is the lifeline for the villagers of Dasarathpur and its adjoining areas under Dasarathpur GP. The said Bailey Bridge, after getting severely damaged, has been lying closed for more than five years (since 2019), the residents of the region said. The bridge was reportedly closed by APWD by welding pipes and bars across the entrance to prevent the entry of all kinds of vehicles and owing to which the residents in the area have to take a long detour to transport their agricultural products, the locals rued. They are put in a grievous situation in medical emergencies due to this damaged and closed bridge, they lamented. The concerned authority must comprehend the plight of the residents of the area owing to the closure of the bridge since 2019 and responsibly restore it to usable condition, opined an elderly resident of Dasarathpur.
The Pradhan, GP Dasarathpur Smti. Rupa Rani Halder told Andaman Sheekha Daily in a telephonic conversation that the bridge in question is the only direct route for the villagers, and its closure has forced them to take alternate and much longer routes, leading to significant hardship, time wastage, and frustration. And the worst affected are the school-going children who have to take a detour through Mithila to reach their school(s) at Sabari; in fact, the link between Dasarathpur and Sabari snapped the day the damaged bridge was closed.
Despite repeated representations and appeals from the villagers and elected representatives, including the Pradhan of Dasarathpur, no action has been taken by the administration to reconstruct the bridge, leaving the villagers to fend for themselves for nearly five years, she said. The residents, on the other hand, made an earnest plea to the A&N Administration to immediately reconstruct the Magar Nallah Bailey bridge to alleviate the sufferings, especially of their school-going children who are facing the hurdles owing to this damaged and closed bridge, they said.