Kurigram, March 4 -- For the past 17 years, residents of Bhitorband union in Nageshwari upazila have been crossing Duburir canal on a fragile wooden plank structure - a risky substitute for a bridge that collapsed in 2008 and has yet to be rebuilt.

Once the bridge on the Jamtalapara-Kachuarpaar-Madaikhal connecting road served as a vital link for thousands of people in the area.

Now it stands as a reminder of stalled development and unfulfilled promises.

In the absence of government intervention, villagers - with support from local public representatives - installed a temporary wooden platform over the damaged structure to keep communication between the two sides alive.

But time and weather have taken their toll.

The makeshift crossi...