The construction of Betraboti Bridge, one of the most important and busiest bridges in Satkhira's Kalaroa upazila has remained halted for about eight months imposing increasing risks of accidents on the commuters.
After the initial launch, its construction remained abandoned for a long time. later in August last year, all obstacles in the construction of the bridge were removed by completing land acquisition on the banks of the river, border marking and establishment evacuation process. But since then, no visible progress has been made to complete the bridge construction, locals said.

As a result, all types of vehicles including heavy transports and pedestrians are using the dilapidated bridge that was partly demolished during the construction work, amid great dangers.
A supporting bridge ‘Bailey Bridge’ located on the south side of the bridge is also grappling with fragile conditions pushin Bridge construction remains frozen for 8 months in Satkhira
g the traffic pressure towards the partially broken Betraboti Bridge, residents, Shahinur Rahman, Sanbeam Karim Siam, Fahim Hossain and some others said.
Local people who remain concerned about possible accidents most of the time believe that once the construction work of this big-budget bridge is completed, it will mark the beginning of a new horizon of communication in the region.

According to Satkhira Roads and Highways Department (RHD) sources, in August last year, under the management of Satkhira RHD, the land acquisition and boundaries were determined for constructing the Betraboti Bridge. About one acre of land was acquired by the government for the construction of the approach roads of the bridge in Jhikra and Murarikati Mauza under Kalaroa Municipality.
The land acquisition work was completed on 23 August last year. The landowners also received government payment for their lands. All the structures including the commercial structures on the acquired land were demolished and evicted, according to Satkhira RHD.

Locals said a municipality and 12 unions of the upazila have been divided into two parts by River Betraboti. People from Tala upazila of Satkhira and Keshabpur, Monirampur, Jhikargacha, Sharsha upazila travel through this bridge. In 2022, the southern portion of the existing bridge railing was demolished as part of the construction of the new bridge. Then a temporary bridge named Bailey Bridge was built on the south side over the river. Then the work was halted due to land acquisition complications.
According to the related sources, currently, the construction work of the bridge is being delayed due to the reluctance of the contractor. The contractor left the work stating that they were unable to finish the work in due time as the land acquisition additional 120 days to complete.  

Maruf Hossain, in charge of the contracting company Mojahajar Enterprise, said the contracting company has applied to the concerned department to cancel the bridge construction work. Explaining the cause, he said the prices of construction materials in the current market are much higher than the fixed price of the construction tender.
All the goods brought for the construction work have been removed from the river bank, he said, adding that the company has also officially expressed its inability to continue this construction work.
On the other hand, Mohammad Anwar Parvez, executive engineer of the Roads and Highways Department, Satkhira said, “At the time of the tender issue, a total of three bridge package tenders were invited at different places in Satkhira. The total cost of those 3 works was estimated at around Tk26 crore.
“Currently, due to the increase in the market price of construction materials, the contractor is expressing inability to complete the work. Efforts are being made to resume the work as soon as possible by inviting fresh tender over the matter.”
Kalaroa Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Krishna Roy said, “It is mainly a matter of roads and highways department. They are preparing to invite a re-tender. Maybe the work will start as soon as possible.”