Sylhet BureauHundreds of thousands of people have been facing immense hardship for over four years after two bridges on the Sunamganj-Chhatak route in Sunamganj collapsed in a flood in 2022. As the route is the most important for Chhatak, Dowarabazar and several surrounding upazilas, discontent is growing among locals. Passengers have been forced to travel a long way to their destinations, which increased the time and cost. Thousands of students, businessmen, employees, patients and drivers of remote Dohalia, Pandargaon and Mannargaon Unions are among the worst victims, who have to face daily hardship. Noting that they have been struggling over the lack of bridges every day for four years, auto-rickshaw driver Jahangir Hossain said, "We have to travel long distances, which increases fuel costs, wastes time, and we have to listen to various complaints from passengers." He added that if the bridges are not built quickly, their sufferings will increase even more.Schoolgirl Maria said, "It takes a lot of time to go to school every day. Earlier, it was very easy to travel, but now we have to take detours. This has made it difficult to attend classes regularly."Trader Anwar Hossain said trade is being affected as they are unable to use the route. "It takes extra time and cost to transport goods. Sometimes, it is not possible to reach the buyer on time. The road and bridge work needs to be completed quickly."Stating that the route is a lifeline for people of remote region, NGO worker Salah Uddin Sumon said, "It is very sad that there is no permanent solution even though two bridges have been remaining collapsed for four years."The authorities concerned should take the issue seriously and take effective steps to complete the construction work quickly, so that the long-standing suffering of the common people ends," he also said.According to Md. Abdul Hamid, upazila engineer, LGED, Dowarabazar, the project for constructing the two bridges were taken after the devastating floods of 2022. As the contractor abandoned the works half way, they had to cancel the bid and went for a fresh one lately, he told the FE recently.Md. Jashim Uddin, sub-assistant engineer, Dowarabazar, LGED, said recently that tender for the bridge in Katakhali area was awarded to a contractor for Tk 85.2 million and the process for the other tender, set for Tk 90 million, is underway. He added that the construction work will be resumed very soon after the new tender process completes.