2 more years sought for Padma Bridge
In an application to the Ministry of Preparation, the road transport ministry cited delays to the work due to the coronavirus pandemic for seeking the time extension.
After overcoming numerous hurdles, the construction of Bangladesh's longest bridge over the Padma River were only available in 2014 using the country's own funds.
The government was working to open the bridge to traffic on the golden jubilee of Bangladesh's independence this season however the plans hit a snag following outbreak of the coronavirus in March last year.
However, the construction do the job continuing amid the pandemic, with the final span of the bridge being installed in December. Later on Feb 16, Quader explained that 84 percent of the construction work have been completed, with the federal government targeting the bridge to come to be operational by June 2022.
But now, the Ministry of Highway Transport and Bridges has put on extend the job deadline by another 2 yrs until June 2023.
Asked about the matter, Kazi Jahangir Alam, chief of the Physical Infrastructure Division, explained "The Bridges Division offers delivered a letter and we've received it.
"However the IMED will issue a report on the entire status of the job. We are able to make a decision from then on is submitted.”
If any project has to be amended without increasing the price, the relevant branch of the Planning Commission might approve it without presenting it to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC). Consequently, this project can even be accepted by the Physical Infrastructure Division.
Addressing the matter, Pradip Ranjan Chakraborty, secretary to the Implementation Monitoring and Analysis Division, said: "We have received a letter from the Bridges Division. Nevertheless, the duty of extending enough time limit will fall on the Physical Infrastructure Division of the look Commission.”
"IMED has recently inspected the project place. We discovered that the execution of the project offers been severely hampered by the coronavirus pandemic during the last one season. In that case, our recommendation is always to extend the time limit.”
After the most up-to-date amendment, the estimated cost of constructing the Padma Multipurpose (Road-Rail) Bridge project has been implemented at a price of Tk 301.93 billion. The expense of the project won't rise whether or not the deadline is prolonged by two years at the request of the Bridges Division.
The Bridges Division, however, did not issue any statement regarding the proposed time extension.
