UNB, Dhaka :
After the Karnaphuli River, the government is planning to construct a tunnel under the mighty Jamuna River, aiming to facilitate improved road and rail communications in the country’s northern region and greater Mymensingh.
The Bridges Division under the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges will implement a project to this end for introducing Multi Modal Tunnel under the Jamuna after conducting a feasibility study.
Under the proposed tunnel, simultaneous train and road communications are expected to be introduced for the first time in the country, said an official at the Planning Commission.
The official said the Bridges Division has already sent a draft development project proposal to the Planning Commission titled ‘Conducting feasibility study beneath the River Jamuna’.
The Bridges Division will conduct the feasibility study by December 2018.
Once the tunnel is constructed, the official said improved communication would be established between Rangpur Division and northern part of Dhaka Division, greater Mymensingh and other parts of the country.
Another official at the Bridges Division said initially Balashighat (Gaibandha) and Dewanganjghat (Jamalpur) have been selected as the potential sites for building the tunnel. But, the real location of the proposed tunnel will be finalised on completion of the study.
The official said the width of the Jamuna River could stretch up to 13 kilometres during the rainy season where 19,500 cubic metres of water are transmitted through this river every second alongside 650 million tonnes of silt. In terms of transmission of silt, Jamuna
is the second biggest river in the world while it is the fifth largest in the world in terms of water transmission. “Considering the trend of siltation, it’s better to construct there tunnel instead of Bridge,” the official added.
The official said the proposed tunnel project is included in the joint communique issued between Bangladesh and Japan during the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Japan in May 2014.
The Bridges Division official said technical assistance has already been sought from the World Bank, JICA and IDB for conducting the feasibility study for implementing the tunnel project.
After the Karnaphuli River, the government is planning to construct a tunnel under the mighty Jamuna River, aiming to facilitate improved road and rail communications in the country’s northern region and greater Mymensingh.
The Bridges Division under the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges will implement a project to this end for introducing Multi Modal Tunnel under the Jamuna after conducting a feasibility study.
Under the proposed tunnel, simultaneous train and road communications are expected to be introduced for the first time in the country, said an official at the Planning Commission.
The official said the Bridges Division has already sent a draft development project proposal to the Planning Commission titled ‘Conducting feasibility study beneath the River Jamuna’.
The Bridges Division will conduct the feasibility study by December 2018.
Once the tunnel is constructed, the official said improved communication would be established between Rangpur Division and northern part of Dhaka Division, greater Mymensingh and other parts of the country.
Another official at the Bridges Division said initially Balashighat (Gaibandha) and Dewanganjghat (Jamalpur) have been selected as the potential sites for building the tunnel. But, the real location of the proposed tunnel will be finalised on completion of the study.
The official said the width of the Jamuna River could stretch up to 13 kilometres during the rainy season where 19,500 cubic metres of water are transmitted through this river every second alongside 650 million tonnes of silt. In terms of transmission of silt, Jamuna
is the second biggest river in the world while it is the fifth largest in the world in terms of water transmission. “Considering the trend of siltation, it’s better to construct there tunnel instead of Bridge,” the official added.
The official said the proposed tunnel project is included in the joint communique issued between Bangladesh and Japan during the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Japan in May 2014.
The Bridges Division official said technical assistance has already been sought from the World Bank, JICA and IDB for conducting the feasibility study for implementing the tunnel project.
