Google Alert – Bangladesh Army
On the crowded arteries of Dhaka, foot-over bridges fitted with escalators once symbolised modernity and safety. Conceived as multi-crore taka projects to ease pedestrian movement across the capital’s perilous roads, these bridges were intended to reduce accidents and discourage jaywalking. Instead, they have now fallen victims to neglect, mismanagement and waste they are corroding, rusting, looted, and in many cases abandoned.
From Farmgate to Banani’s Army Club, and from the Airport bus stand to Progati Sarani, the story is strikingly similar. Most escalators remain inoperative, poorly maintained, or deliberately shut down. The result: citizens continue to risk their lives crossing busy highways, while crores of taxpayers’ money go down the drain.
In 2019, following the tragic road death of Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP) student Abrar Ahmed in road crash, which is a jerry-built one authorities hurriedly constructed an escalator-equipped foot-over bridge near Jamuna Future Park on Progati Sarani. It was billed as a safe passageway for thousands of pedestrians.
Yet five years later, the bridge functions only sporadically — more on exception than the rule. Pedestrians have no clear idea when the escalator will be operational. More often than not, it remains shut during the busiest morning hours.
“I have knee problems, but every morning I climb these stairs because the escalator is shut,” said one elderly commuter. Others, pressed for time, risk life and limb by jumping over road dividers to cross the highway.
Adding to the absurdity, the escalator is operated not by any authority but by a local SIM card vendor. “By the time I wake up, it’s 11:00am. I come and switch on the escalator, then turn it off around 10:00pm,” said Kamrul, who also sells SIM cards on the bridge. If he is absent, his younger brother steps in.
Meanwhile, the bridge itself is half-occupied by hawkers, leaving pedestrians to walk through the remaining space.
If Jamuna Future Park’s bridge is marked by irregularity, Farmgate’s escalator bridge is defined by outright failure. Built at a cost of nearly Tk 20 crore and inaugurated on 15 October, 2023, it was expected to be a landmark solution for one of Dhaka’s busiest intersections.
But within a week, the escalator was blocked off with bamboo fencing. It has not functioned since.
Today, the bridge is overrun by hawkers, scavengers, street children and the homeless. “For elderly family members — especially those with knee pain — the escalator was very necessary,” said Farmgate resident Kailash Sarkar. “If it broke in one week, it means it was faulty from the beginning.”
Local vendors confirm that soldiers from the Bangladesh Army, who built the project under Dhaka North City Corporation’s (DNCC) supervision, occasionally carry out minor repairs. But the escalator is never opened to the public.
“Sometimes they come, clean it, and even run it for a few hours. But no one is allowed to use it,” said Saikat, a toy seller stationed nearby.
Pedestrian Soleman said, “There was also supposed to be a lift along with the escalator. But though a long time has passed, it was never installed. So, with more pressure on the escalator, it keeps breaking down from overload. Since the contractor opened the bridge before completing the full work, this situation arose.”
Sources said the project was financed by the Dhaka Elevated Expressway authorities with a budget of about Tk 20 crore. The construction was implemented under the supervision of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) by the Bangladesh Army’s 24th Engineering Brigade, costing around Tk 14 crore.
The country’s first escalator-equipped bridge, built in 2014 in front of Banani’s Army Club, was once a point of pride. Today, it is a symbol of decay.
Since August, the bridge has been entirely non-functional. Key parts — side glass panels, plastic belts and control switches — have been stolen. CCTV cameras installed for security stopped working years ago, turning the bridge into an easy target for looters.
Ali Hossain, a peanut seller who has worked nearby for nine years, said parts have been stolen four times. “Every time, officials came, looked, and left. They never fixed the problem permanently,” he said.
Pedestrian Abdul Gafur noted that the bridge is now the domain of hawkers. “The lights don’t work, the cameras don’t work, and the escalator is gone. This isn’t for pedestrians anymore,” he said.
At the Airport bus stand, two escalators installed in 2017 have been completely out of order for four years. Much of their machinery has already been stolen. Red-lettered stickers now label the site a “Dangerous Structure”.
As a result, thousands of passengers crossing between terminals and the main road avoid the bridge altogether, instead darting across traffic in chaotic, perilous ways. Drivers blare their horns constantly to avoid hitting them, creating deafening noise pollution.
“Snatchers gather here at night,” said Anwar, a regular pedestrian. “Crossing the road is risky, but it’s less dangerous than using the bridge.”
Nearby, newspaper seller Amol Chandra Ghosh said the escalator is deliberately kept closed. “Until the underpass construction is complete, they won’t reopen it,” he explained.
The story repeats across Dhaka. Foot-over bridges cost crores of taka to build, but lack even basic maintenance. Cleaning is outsourced to private firms, yet oversight is minimal. Workers say they have not been given proper tools for the job.
Ordinary bridges at Panthapath, Mirpur and Shahbagh are filthy, slippery and broken. The stench of rotting rubbish greets commuters daily.
Urban planners say this was predictable. Escalator-equipped bridges are complex to maintain, requiring technical expertise and specialist parts. Yet no long-term maintenance plan was ever put in place.
“Every country has its own reality. In Bangladesh, escalator bridges are not workable because we have no system for proper upkeep,” said Professor Dr Adil Muhammad Khan, President of the Bangladesh Institute of Planners.
Dr Khan said the projects were pushed through without proper feasibility studies. “Before launching such projects, usability and maintenance must be considered. Instead, these were often undertaken for opportunities of wastage or even corruption. The public is left to suffer.”
The financial trail is equally troubling. The Farmgate project was financed by the Dhaka Elevated Expressway authorities, with a budget of Tk 20 crore. The Bangladesh Army’s 24th Engineering Brigade carried out construction at a reported cost of Tk 14 crore under DNCC’s supervision.
Yet within a week, the structure failed. None has accepted responsibility. Attempts to reach DNCC officials — Administrator Mohammad Ejaz, Chief Property Officer Shawkat Osman, and Chief Engineer Brigadier General Md Moin Uddin — yielded no response.
This silence speaks volumes, experts say. Without accountability, expensive projects collapse, and the public loses twice: once in wasted tax money, and again in lost safety.
The collapse of Dhaka’s escalator bridges has real human consequences. Elderly people with weak knees, mothers carrying children, and patients heading to hospitals are forced to climb endless stairways or cross perilous highways.
In many locations, the bridges are occupied by hawkers, leaving only narrow passages for pedestrians. At others, broken structures and darkness make them unsafe from crime.
As one commuter put it, “They built these bridges for us, but we cannot use them. Now we risk our lives every day on the road.”
Urban experts say Dhaka’s foot-over bridge fiasco offers a hard lesson: infrastructure without maintenance is worse than no infrastructure at all.
“Since they are already built, urgent steps are needed to restore and maintain them,” Dr Adil emphasised. “Otherwise, these monuments of neglect will remain permanent scars on the cityscape.”
For now, Dhaka’s escalator bridges stand as symbols of misplaced priorities — gleaming promises that quickly turned into burdens. And until officials accept responsibility, citizens will continue to pay the price in sweat, frustration.