The much awaited Padma Bridge will be inaugurated on June 25. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the bridge.
Awami League General Secretary and Minister for Road Transport and Bridges Obaidul Quader said this while talking to journalists on Tuesday.
The Minister said, “Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, daughter of the Bangabandhu, will inaugurate the Padma Bridge on Saturday, June 25 at 10 am. She said the Padma Bridge will be named after the river Padma. No name of the Bangabandhu family will be added to the bridge.”
Obaidul Quader also said, “All the parties including BNP will be invited to join the inauguration ceremony. I will also invite even those who spoke out against it. The movement of traffic on the Padma Bridge will start on the day of the inauguration.”
Earlier, the road transport and bridges minister briefed the Prime Minister on the Padma Bridge at Ganobhaban. The people of the south of the country have been eagerly waiting for this bridge since long. It is the biggest bridge in the country involving a lot of political and international developments.
That is why, there is more discussion about the bridge. Every span of it has become news. Significant progress has been made. Following the installation of the last span of the bridge in December 2020, it was announced that the bridge would open to traffic in June this year.
Sheikh Hasina earlier announced her government would construct the bridge with Bangladesh’s own funds, discarding dependence on foreign donors like the World Bank which questioned the accountability and transparency of fund management of the project even before the project was launched.
The government on Tuesday finalised the toll rate for different types of vehicles for crossing the Padma Multipurpose Bridge. The Bridges Division under Road Transport and Bridges Ministry issued a gazette notification in this regard on May 17.
According to the notification, Tk 100 toll has been fixed for motorbike, Tk 750 for private car and jeep, Tk 1200 from pick-up, Tk 1300 for microbus, Tk 1400 for small bus (with 31 seats), Tk 2000 for medium bus (with 32 seats), Tk 2400 for big size bus, Tk 1600 for small truck (5 tonnes), Tk 2100 for medium size truck (over 5 tonnes to 8 tonnes), Tk 2800 for medium size truck (over 8 tonnes to 11 tonnes), Tk 5500 for big truck (up to 3 excel) Tk 6000 for trailer truck (4 excel) and Tk 6,000 plus for trailer (over 4 excel).
Economists said the Padma Bridge would increase the country's GDP (Gross Domestic Product) by 1.5 to 2 percent and change particularly the economic landscape of Bangladesh's southwestern part promoting tourism, industry alongside the routine trades.
Following the construction started back in 2014 the first span was installed in September 2017 and the last span (41st) installed in December 2020.
Bangladesh Bridges Authority (BBA) officials said some 22 meters wide concrete deck slab with 4-lane road on upper deck would feature the structure, while a single-track dual gauge railway track would be installed on lower deck.
They said the bridge will also have a 760 mm dia gas transmission line, 150 mm dia Fiber optical & telephone duct, high voltage electric line, platform in River over pile foundation at two km downstream of the main bridge.
China's Major Bridge Engineering Company (MBEC) is constructing the main bridge and its Sino Hydro Corporation was assigned with the task of river management.
The official data showed Sheikh Hasina opened the construction work on December 12, 2015 and the first span of the bridge was installed at the Jajira point of Shariatpur on October 7, 2017.
Padma Bridge is expected to change not only the socioeconomic structure of southern parts of Bangladesh, it will also create positive impacts on the whole economy of the country. It will also connect many countries of South and Southeast Asia and will contribute to communications, trade, industry, tourism and many other sectors in various ways.
The Padma Bridge is the largest construction infrastructure since the independence of Bangladesh, which was initiated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.