Damage of Teesta Bridge causes traffic halt
Our Correspondent, Rangpur
Road and railway communication with Lalmonirhat and Kurigram with other parts of the country over Teesta Bridge was suspended for 16 hours as an overloaded truck damaged railway sleepers on the bridge.Hundreds of buses and trucks were stranded on both sides of the bridge causing untold sufferings to the passengers. The railway authorities after a 16-hour-long effort repaired the sleepers and road and rail communication was restored at 3:00pm yesterday. Locals and railway sources said a number of sleepers of the railway line on the northern side of the bridge were damaged on Thursday night when a truck laden with stones passed over them. A similar incident had occurred on the bridge 14 days ago and vehicular movement was restored after 11 hours. An official of Lalmonirhat Railway Divisional Office [West Zone] requesting anonymity said the bridge is 117 years old and it is not unusual that it has problems now and then. He said, "The bridge was built for trains only and commissioning it for vehicular movements only made it risky."
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