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Now govt mulling 10km long Barishal-Bhola bridge

Published : Sunday, 27 December, 2020 at 12:00 AM  Count : 380

After a tremendous success of completing a mega construction of the country's dream project, the Padma Multipurpose Bridge, now the government is mulling to construct the longest ever 10 kilometre bridge from Barishal to Bhola to connect 22 districts of the southern region to the
capital.
In this regard, the Economic Relations Division (ERD) of the Ministry of Finance will sit with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to negotiate the fund assistance for the mega project this week.
"After completing the Padma Bridge, now the government plans to construct the longest ever bridge from Barishal to Bhola for direct link to the capital. We will sit with the AIIB this week and fix the fund assistance for implementing the fast track project," a senior official of the ERD told the Daily Observer on Saturday.
"The AIIB, the multilateral investment bank, has expressed its desire to invest in the mega project as well as in other development projects in the country," he added.
The meeting is supposed to be held this week, he said.
The Planning Commission has agreed about the implementation of the priority project after scrutinising the Development Project Proposal (DPP) sent by the Roads Transport and Bridges Ministry recently, officials of the Commission said.
The project styled 'Construction of Barishal to Bhola Bridge over the rivers Tetulia and Kalabadar,' would cost an estimated Tk 13,000 crore. The cost may
further increase once the bridge design is finalised, officials of the Bridge Division said.
The Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) said it had conducted a survey for the construction of the bridge and determined the possible location of the bridge. A joint team of four foreign firms have already completed the feasibility study. There is no technical problem for the construction of the bridge. It will make a major contribution to the economic activities through massive development in the country's communication system.
According to the feasibility study, transport of passengers and goods from Bhola depends on boats and launches - which is affecting the socio-economic development of the district. Whenever there is a problem in the operation of the ferry due to inclement weather or rough sea, everyone has to face problems in transporting goods.
The main bridge will be 8.64 kilometre long. The project will include acquisition of 485.97 hectares of land, constructing 1.06-km approach road, 2-km link road, and 4-km river training.
Meanwhile, the implementation of the project was supposed to start on July of 2019. But due to poor response over fund assistance, the implementation process has been delayed. At that time the ERD wrote to the donor agencies and development partners seeking fund assistance for the mega project. Among others, Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA), Asian Development Bank (ADB), Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and China were in the ERD's priority list.
Bhola is the biggest island in the Bay of Bengal and is surrounded by Laxmipur, Barishal, Patuakhali, Noakhali across the Bay. There is no way to communicate with Bhola except by water vessels. If the mega bridge between Barishal and Bhola is completed, it would create employment and develop socio economic infrastructure of the region. Dhaka would be connected to Barishal and Bhola through the Padma Bridge.
Once the construction of the bridge is completed in 2024, it will be able to run 6,990 motor vehicles daily. However, the authorities expect 57,000 motor vehicles to run in phases.
The economy of the country will gain new momentum if the longest ever bridge is built. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth will increase by at least 1.2 per cent. The per capita income, education, medical and civic amenities of the region will increase. It will also add a new dimension to the economic contribution of the Padma Bridge. Moreover, it will be easier to supply gas from Bhola.









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