'Padma Bridge to open in last week of June'

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Wednesday reiterated that the Padma Bridge will certainly be inaugurated in the last week of June, and the date will be announced after receiving the Prime Minister's (PM) schedule.
"I am saying that the bridge will be inaugurated in June. There is no confusion," he told the journalists when queried about any scope of delay in the inauguration plan due to issues like rail-track placement complication after starting road traffic.
The minister, who is also general secretary of the ruling Awami League, was briefing the journalists after 111th board meeting of the Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA).
The meeting was held to inform progress of the projects - being implemented under the BBA - to the board members, who are secretaries of different ministries.
He noted that work on the bridge's rail part will begin in July - as agreed by technical teams of the BBA and the Bangladesh Railway (BR). Due to technical problems two works could not be carried out simultaneously.
When asked about selection of the Padma Bridge name, Mr Quader said a summary on the dream bridge inauguration was sent to the PM, proposing the bridge's name as 'Sheikh Hasina Padma Bridge'.
He said the name was proposed long before it was shared during parliament session, and such demand (to name the bridge after the PM) was raised by different quarters from different parts of the country.
But, it is still undecided, as Sheikh Hasina is yet to endorse the proposal.
The minister mentioned that the Padma Bridge work would be completed by this month, as 98 per cent of its work has already been done.
Overall progress of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge (PMB) project is 93.5 per cent, river training work 92 per cent, and road carpeting work 91 per cent.
"We are taking preparation to inaugurate the dream bridge in last week of June. Whenever the PM will give time, we will go for inauguration."
The minister also told the journalists that the Karnaphuli tunnel project work is also progressing fast, recording an overall progress of 85 per cent. Work on the 2,450-metre first tube with ring placement, boring and lane slap was completed. Work on the second tube is also making progress quickly.
Regarding political issue, the Awami League spokesperson ruled out the possibility of any Sri Lanka-like situation in the country - as claimed by the BNP secretary general, saying that Mirza Fakhrul Islam must look into his failures from beginning.
"Why have not Mr Fakhrul jumped into the Bay of Bengal yet with all his wrongdoings?"
Mr Quader noted that Bangladesh's foreign currency reserve is US$ 44 billion, whereas that of Lanka is only $50 million.

smunima@yahoo.com