PM opens Padma Bridge June 25
She says the bridge to be named after the river: Quader
MUNIMA SULTANA | Wednesday, 25 May 2022
The Padma Bridge is scheduled to open for road traffic on June 25 next, establishing a direct link between the capital and southwestern regions of the country.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the country's longest multipurpose bridge over the river Padma at 10 am on the day.
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader announced the schedule on Tuesday, while briefing a group of journalists outside the Ganabhaban after getting consent from the Prime Minister.
The minister along with Bridge Division Secretary Mohammad Monjur Hossain went to the Ganabhaban at around 11 am with two summary papers - one to fix the inaugural date of the bridge and another its name.
After nearly two hours of meeting, the minister said that the prime minister signed the summary of the inaugural date on June 25 but refrained from signing another one, saying that the bridge will be named after the name of the river.
"The bridge to be named after the name of the river, not of a person or any name from the Bangabandhu's family," he said, quoting the PM.
Mr Quader said the Prime Minister will attend a civil society gathering first at the Mawa site and then go to the other side of the bridge to attend a public gathering.
As the bridge inauguration is considered a victory of the ruling Awami League amid facing criticism and conspiracy by different quarters, the RTB minister said all including those who were against the dream bridge will be invited first to the inaugural function.
The ruling Awami League took the Padma Multipurpose Bridge (PMB) as the most priority project soon after assuming the office in January 2009.
Though the bridge had been initially planned to complete within four years, it had faced several problems afterwards over issues like funding, corruptions etc., taking more than eight years to complete the construction.
The bridge construction finally began in December 2014 after the government announced to construct it from its own fund. However, the construction was delayed further by over three years due to solving faults in the designs of 14 piers of the 6.15-kilometre bridge.