Vehicular movement resumes on Rangamati-Bandarban highway after 13 days

Direct road communications on the Rangamati-Bandarban highway fully resumed, exactly 13 days after a key bailey bridge collapsed due to severe flash floods on Saturday morning (July 25).

The bridge, built over the Shilok Canal in the Dudhpukuria area under Padua Union of Ranguniya upazila, Chattogram, collapsed on July 12. According to official sources, torrential hill runoff was diverted by a rubber dam in Dudhpukuria, causing powerful water currents to smash into the bridge structure. The impact washed away a portion of the bailey bridge and severely damaged around 150 feet of the approach road, forcing authorities to suspend direct traffic for safety reasons.

Engineers from the Roads and Highways Department in Bandarban worked around the clock to restore the critical transport link.

Sakhawat Hossain, Executive Engineer of Bandarban the Roads and Highways Department, confirmed that reconstruction of the damaged section was completed late Thursday night (July 23).

"We allowed light vehicles, including auto-rickshaws, to cross on a trial basis on Friday," Sakhawat Hossain said. "From Saturday morning, the bridge has been fully reopened for all types of traffic as normal operations have been restored."

The reopening has brought immense relief to daily commuters, local traders, and transport operators who faced severe disruptions during the nearly two-week outage.

However, Nurul Alam, General Secretary of the Bandarban District Bus Owners' Association, noted that transport operators are initially maintaining caution, and vehicular movement may remain somewhat limited over the first few days as a precautionary measure.