With the aim of boosting economic growth of the country’s northwestern region, the government is mulling over constructing a tunnel under the Jamuna river.
The proposed 12-km-long tunnel for both road and rail communications would connect the eastern part with the western part of the country. The two sides of the river tunnel would be Dewanganj of Jamalpur district and Fulchhari in Gaibandha district.
“The government has included the tunnel in the Seventh Five Year Plan (SFYP) considering its enormous economic aspects, as it would expedite the mobility of people as well as goods from the northern region to other parts of the country,” Professor Dr Shamsul Alam, member of General Economic Division (GED) of Planning Commission, told BSS.
“Immense possibilities are there to increase the country’s GDP up to 1.2 to 2 percent if we could construct the tunnel under the Jamuna river,” he opined.
Meanwhile, the Bridge Division has sent a proposal to the Planning Commission regarding construction of the tunnel under the river.
In the proposal, the Bridge Division said the tunnel would pave the way for smooth and uninterrupted transpiration of goods from the northwestern region to the northeastern and southeastern regions to foster economic development.
In the Primary Development Project Proforma (PDPP), “Construction of Multimodal Road-Rail Tunnel under the Jamuna River” would require an estimated cost of Taka 51,000 crore, where the Bridge Division is expected to get Taka 40,000 crore from the development partner and the government would bear the remaining cost.
The Bridge Division has also requested the Economic Relations Division (ERD) to find out the sources of financing for the project.
Planning Commission (PC) Officials, however, said the PC is assessing the proposal of Bridge Division on the basis of the socioeconomic aspects of the project.
The PC said they would go ahead with the project if it appears that the economy of the northwestern region would be boosted up in next 10-20 years.
