Residents of the Sonamura Madhuban area have been risking their lives for nearly three years, crossing a dangerously dilapidated hanging bridge over the Gomati river due to prolonged administrative neglect. With no repairs carried out, the structure has fallen into a near-collapsed state, yet hundreds continue to use it daily for lack of any alternative.
The bridge is a lifeline for residents of Barnarayan, Garurbandh, and Bejimara villages, who depend on it to reach Sonamura for work, market access, and medical care. It also serves as the only convenient route to Sonamura Degree College, forcing students to rely on the crumbling structure for their daily commute.
Compounding the crisis is a jurisdictional deadlock: the Kanthalia Block Administration insists the bridge falls under the Nagar Panchayat’s purview, while the Sonamura Nagar Panchayat maintains it is the block’s responsibility. Caught in this administrative tussle, no authority has stepped in to act.
Barnarayan resident Ramesh Debnath said repeated appeals for repair have gone unanswered, warning that a major tragedy could strike any day. With minor accidents already reported on the bridge, students and locals are demanding urgent repair or an alternative crossing before disaster strikes.