Appointment of the consultant for the Railway Bridge over Jamuna River is underway, as the negotiation is progressing, a Bangladesh Railway official said.
He said the government would appoint the consultant to design and prepare of the tender documents for construction of the much talked about Rail Bridge over the Jamuna River. “We have already selected a company from the short list for appointing the consultant. At this moment the Bangladesh Railway (BR) has been negotiating for appointing the consultant,” the official told BSS here yesterday. According to the project details, the BR has selected Oriental Consultant Global Company Limited, as a consultant along with Design Development Corporation (DDC) Chodai Company Ltd, a joint venture company.
The proposal for appointing consultant would be sent to the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase for approval after negotiation, the project details said. It said a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed this year between Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) and Bangladesh Railway (BR) for necessary land requisition to construct a separate railway bridge over the River of Jamuna.
The details said the BR already conducted a feasibility study with financial support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for undertaking this project. The Railways Ministry already proposed a draft project to this end, titled “Jamuna Railway Bridge Construction Project”, to the Planning Commission. An official of BR said that the BR would implement the proposed mega project at an estimated cost of Taka 10,055.18 crore, of which Taka 1,964.98 crore would come from the government exchequer while the rest of Taka 8,090.20 crore as project assistance from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The proposed project is also included in the 37th Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan package signed between Japan and Bangladesh on June 29 this year, he said. Talking to BSS Railways Minister M Mazibul Hoque said that the government has undertaken a project to construct a separate railway bridge over the Jamuna River parallel to the Bangabandhu Bridge to facilitate smooth railway communication.
“The proposed bridge will ensure smooth railway communication both inside and outside the country. Once the bridge is completed, dedicated railway network would be set up between the North and the rest of the country,” he said.
The minister said the railway bridge would also have a positive impact on the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and the government has also approved a 20-year master plan to improve the railway sector.
