PM opens Padma Bridge at Mawa Point

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has inaugurated the much-cherished 6.15-kilometer Padma Bridge at the Mawa point.

After inaugurating the bridge at 11:59 am on Saturday paying toll, the PM unveiled a plaque at the Mawa point.

She also joined a munajat there.

The premier became the first citizen to pay the toll and cross the bridge that majestically arched over the mighty river.

Sheikh Hasina's daughter Saima Wazed accompanied her there.

The bridge will be opened for all types of traffic from 6 am on Sunday.

To mark the historic moments, she also unveiled commemorative postage stamps, souvenir sheets, opening day cover and seals  and a note of Tk 100 as part of the grand opening of the country’s biggest self-financed mega project.

It opens new opportunities for the development of the region, especially in agro-based industries and tourism.

On July 09, 2012, PM Hasina at a cabinet meeting announced that Bangladesh would construct the Padma Bridge with its own funds after the World Bank withdrew from the project on allegation of unproved corruption conspiracy.

Later, the graft allegation was rejected by a Canadian Court as false and baseless after the World Bank filed a case in this regard.

Since the start on December 12, 2015 the work on the bridge continued unstopped despite the Covid-19 pandemic situation and Holey Artisan tragedy.

The total allocation is Tk 30,193.39 crore, but the allocation for the main bridge is Tk 12,133.39 crore (including Tk 1,000 crore for installation of 400-kv electricity transmission line and gas line).

Besides, the Tk 9,400 crore was allocated for river training works, Tk 1,907.68 crore for approach roads (including two toll plazas, construction of two buildings for police stations and three service areas), Tk 1,515 crore for the rehabilitation of the displaced people (caused by the project) and Tk 2698.73 crore for land acquisition.

In 1998, the Awami League government had taken the initiative first to build the Padma Bridge and PM Hasina laid the foundation stone of the Padma Bridge on July 4, 2001. She inaugurated the construction of the main bridge on December 12, 2015.

Bangladesh signed an agreement with a Chinese firm - China Major Bridge Engineering Company on June 17, 2014 for construction of the bridge.

The first span of the bridge was installed on September 30 in 2017 while the last span (41st one) was installed on December 10, 2020. The two-storey bridge is 22 meters wide and has four lanes.

In May, 2016 ECNEC approved the Padma Bridge Rail Link Project. On October 14, 2018, the Prime Minister unveiled the plaque of Padma Bridge at Mawa end and opened work on Padma Bridge rail link project.

The Padma Bridge is expected to last more than 100 years, but its construction cost will be recovered in the next 35 years.

TF