Thousands of people have been suffering a lot as the steel bridge over the Halta River, which collapsed at Amua port of Kathalia upazila in 2012, has remained without repair.

The 105 meter-long iron bridge connects Chaltabunia union of Bamna upazila in Barguna with Amua port of Kathalia in Jhalakathi. It was constructed over Halta River in 1992 and financed by the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) of Jhalakathi, according to a source in the LGED office.

The bridge was first repaired in 2002 and again in 2007, said the source. It collapsed in June 2012 when it was hit by a loaded cargo ship, said Golam Mustafa, a resident of the area. Thousands of people used the bridge everyday but now they have to cross the river by ferry, he added.

Students suffer the most because of the broken bridge, said Ferdous Jomaddar, a teacher of Amua Madrasa.

"I am afraid of boarding the ferry as I don't know how to swim," said Afsana Mimi a student of Nursery Class of Amua Kindergarten School.

"We have to use the ferry to cross the river but the boatman keeps us standing for more fare, which often makes us late for classes," said Salma Aktar a student of Class XI of Amua Degree College.

No attempt has been made to repair the bridge since 2012, said local people. A group of musclemen control the ghat and the ferries and earn a lot of money, they added.

Thousands of people went to Amua Bazar crossing the bridge. They have to suffer a lot to reach the bazar after collapse of the bridge, said Sabuj Golder, a businessman of Amua.

Though people suffer a lot due to the lack of a bridge, there is no project now for construction of another bridge at the site, said Fulkam Badshah, senior assistant engineer of Jhalakathi LGED office.