Mohammad Amjad Hossain :
It is really thrilling and exciting to know that Bangladesh has succeeded to have long four lane road and Railway Bridge over river Padma which will facilitate quick communication between the eastern parts of Bangladesh with the southern part of Bangladesh. Presently it takes to cross Padma by ferry at least three hours. Now it will facilitate business men quick communication between eastern parts with southern part. Estimated cost of the construction of the bridge would be Taka 91.72 billion. It appears to be the longest multipurpose road and Railway Bridge on the Padma River connecting to Shariatpur and Madaripur tracing south -west part of the country. The construction began in November of 2014 which turned out to be the largest bridge in Bangladesh. It is a 16.5 kilometer long road and railway bridge.
Having cancelled a loan agreement by the World Bank on frivolous grounds its $ 1.2 billion IDA credit in support of the Padma multipurpose bridge project in June, 2012. Professor Abul Barkat, former Chairman of Economic Association of Bangladesh, was of the opinion that the cancellation of loan agreement by the World Bank was a blessing in disguise while Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the allegation of corruption levelled by the World Bank. China came forward to support Padma Road and Railway Bridge in 2014. China proposed to construct a road and railway project at a cost of $ 3.12 billion. It is really joyous time for the people of Bangladesh.
The Bridge on the Jamuna River became the second bridge in Bangladesh which helped people of the northern part to reach their home as quickly as possible. The bridge was named after Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman which has become the 5th largest bridge in South Asia. The bridge was constructed with the assistance of IDA, OECF and Japan which spread over from Tangail to Sirajganj.
The second bridge on the Padma was designated Lalon shah, mystic poet of Bangladesh of the 19th century on the Padma near Hardinge Bridge which was constructed by the Chinese. This is in fact a road bridge of 1,8000 metre long.
In fact the first bridge on the Padma was constructed in 1910 by the British and the bridge was named after Viceroy of India Lord Hardinge to facilitate communication between Calcutta and Eastern Bengal and Assam. This old bridge is 1.8 kilometer long near Paksey of Pabna district. It seems to note interesting development with Lord Hardinge who was forced to visit oldest High School at Kumarkhali. The high school name was Mathuranath High school which was established in 1856. It is the oldest school in Kushtia. Lord Hardinge who was travelling by steamer from Calcutta to Dacca was forced to visit this school in 1915 who was escorted from steamer by Mathuranath Majumdar, founder of the school. Mathuranath Majumdar was Dewan of East India Company. Lord Hardinge was entertained with different kinds of pitha. On returning to Calcutta this M. N. High School was granted recognition by the British administration. Ray Bahadur Jaladhar Sen and Akshay Kumar Moitra and Rameshchandra Majumder were the students of this School. The Padma which has impacted on Poet Rabidranath Tagore is almost dead because of construction of Farakka barrage by India in 1962 but commissioned in 1975 in spite of objection by Bangabandhu on the pretext to save Calcutta port. The 30 year long agreement of sharing water from Padma from India is expected to expire in 2026, but as of now there appears to be no serious effort to revive the water sharing treaty with India which lacks a guarantee clause.
Now there has been tremendous improvement of communication between eastern part and the southern part of Bangladesh following inauguration of the longest road and Railway Bridge over Padma in Dhaka.
(Mohammad Amjad Hossain, retired diplomat from Bangladesh and former President of Nova Toastmaster International club of America, writes from Falls Church, Virginia).
