Residents of eight villages under Madarganj upazila of Jamalpur are suffering a lot due to lack of a concrete bridge over Khorka canal in the upazila. Local people said 20,000 people of Shuknagari, Khilkati, Fulzor, Koyra, Golabari, Tartapara, Beragaon and Hatmagura villages in Balijuri and Jorkhali unions are affected all the year round because of absence of a permanent bridge. During rainy season, students cannot attend school regularly and traders and farmers cannot take their products to town. Villagers erected a 270 feet bamboo and wood made bridge on self-help basis about 12 years ago to cross the canal. Nur Islam, a student of class eight of a local high school and an inhabitant of Shuknagari village, said “I am afraid to cross the bridge while going to school.” Several accidents often took place when the commuters crossed the bridge, said she. A resident of the same village Nazma Begum said, “A concrete bridge should be built immediately to ease the suffering of the villagers.” Mainly school and college going students and patients, especially pregnant women, are the worst sufferers due to the situation. The farmers are incurring huge loss as they cannot take their products to the district town, said a villager of Khilkati village. Two high schools, several madrasahs, two colleges, the upazila health complex, sub- registrar office, local administration compound, village markets, banks and other important government and non-government offices are located on the north-west side of the bridge connecting two areas Gabergram Haat and Paschim Tartapara,  one and half kilometres away from the upazila headquarters, said local people. Jugal Krishna Mandal, assistant engineer of Local Government and Engineering Department, Madraganj, said, “We sent a proposal to the higher authorities for fund to erect a concrete bridge over the canal to mitigate the suffering of the people of the eight villages but to no effect.”