After seeing the only bridge linking Ringim local government to Dutse, the capital city of Jigawa State, residents of Sintilmawa took upon themselves an awareness creation campaign to avert casualties.
Residents circulated Video clips on social media depicting how devasted the bridge became after flooding perforated the edge of the bridge, allowing water to pass beneath it.
To most inhabitants of Sintilmawa and the indeed Ringim local government, the bridge is connected to the mainstay of the area. Its eventual collapse will not only inflict havoc on commuters who may accidentally become victims but also destroyed the livelihoods of the people of the area.
WikkiTimes observed that the feared-eventual collapse of the bridge and failure of the road compelled road users to either take longer alternative routes to Dutse or jettison their travel plan altogether.
“The people of Ringim and other parts of Jigawa State from this axis resorted to using this road because alternative roads failed due to flooding. You can’t figure out the precise communities using this road, because most of the other roads are not working as a result of the flooding.
“Our fear is if this road collapsed, we cannot move or take our commodities to anywhere. The bridge is affected on both sides,” Samaila Ibrahim, a resident of Sintilmawa narrated to WikkiTimes the value of the affected bridge to their lives.
WikkiTimes learned that the fear of inhabitants of Sintilmawa is not just confined to the bridge but also the accompanied devastation associated with failure of the road. “The bridge and the road have a special protection chore to our community – they shielded us from impending flooding,” said a resident of Sintilmawa who does not want to appear in print.
Munnir Mato, a farmer, added, “Should the embankment of the bridge washed away, water will unavoidably flooded our community.”
Despite Jigawa State Government’s promised intervention to fixed the failed parts of the road as well as the bridge, residents of Sintilmawa constituted a team of youngmen from the community work on the failed sections of the road and the bridge.
Trucks supply stones to the men on the field who mixed it with cement to fend the perforated embankment of the bridge.
They work for two consecutive days without rest, yet, the end is not justified because a lots of resources ought to go into the effort which the community cannot afford.
“We were here for the last two days working on the road assiduously filling the troughs with stones and cement. See they have just broad another truck loaded with stones. And Engineers handling the work are tirelessly working to see the bridge regain its good shape,” Ibrahim said.
