Make Padma Bridge

Padma Bridge

The Padma Bridge is a multipurpose road-rail bridge across the Padma River to be constructed in Bangladesh. When completed it will be the largest bridge in Bangladesh and the first fixed river crossing for road traffic. It will connect Louhajong, Munshiganj to Shariatpur and Madaripur, linking the south-west of the country, to northern and eastern regions. The project covers three districts — Munshiganj (Mawa Point/North bank), Shariatpur and Madaripur (Janjira/South bank).

 Padma Bridge in an artistic view.       

The total area of land to be acquired and required for its components is 918 hectares. The requisition of land for the construction yard will be for six years on a rental basis. As per the new design, an additional 144.04 ha has been identified for acquisition, bringing the total to 1062.14 hectares. This additional land is required because project site lost significant land due to erosion, for transition structures and due to a change in railway alignment.

The two-level steel truss bridge will carry a four-lane highway on the upper level and a single track railway on a lower level. The project will include 6.15 km long and 21.10 m wide bridge, 15.1 km of approach roads, toll plazas and service areas.

Bangladesh profile

Bangladesh is one of the world's most densely populated countries, with its people crammed into a delta of rivers that empties into the Bay of Bengal.

Bangladesh in the map

Poverty is deep and widespread; almost half of the population live on less than one dollar a day. However, Bangladesh has reduced population growth and improved health and education.

The major employer is agriculture, but it is unable to meet the demand for jobs. So, many Bangladeshis - in common with citizens from other countries in the region - seek work abroad, sometimes illegally.

 

The country is trying to diversify its economy, with industrial development a priority. Overseas investors have pumped money into manufacturing and the energy sector.

Indian military support during the the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971 helped East Pakistan break away to form Bangladesh

Onshore and offshore gas reserves hold out some chance of future prosperity. There has been a debate about whether the reserves should be kept for domestic use or exported. International companies are involved in the gas sector.

Formerly East Pakistan, Bangladesh came into being only in 1971, when the two parts of Pakistan split after a bitter war which drew in neighbouring India.
 

Finance require to accomplish this project

Project cost is estimated to be US$3.00 billion. Funding for the project is provided by the Asian Development Bank (US$615 m), the World Bank ($1.5 billion), Japan International Cooperation Agency ($415 m), Islamic Development Bank ($140 m). The government also signed another $14.84 million agreement with the IDB for the implementation of the water-supply and sanitation project in cyclone-prone coastal areas, and Abu Dhabi Development Group ($30 m) of the total amount, the government will provide Tk 50 million while the rest will come in the form of project aid.

The Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) invited the pre-qualification tender for the project in April 2010. Construction of the bridge was expected to commence by early 2011 and be ready for major completion in 2013 (and complete all sections by late 2015). The proposed Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project will provide direct connectivity between the central and southwestern part of the country through a fixed link on the Padma River at Mawa-Janjira points. The bridge will contribute significantly towards facilitating the social, economic and industrial development of this relatively underdeveloped region with a population of over 30 million. The area of influence of the direct benefit of the project is about 44,000 km2 or 29% of the total area of Bangladesh. Therefore, the project is viewed as very important infrastructure towards improving the transportation network and regional economic development of the country. The bridge has provisions for rail, gas, electric line and fibre optic cable for future expansion. The project will be co-financed by the government of Bangladesh, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Islamic Development Bank. The Bangladesh Bridge Authority is the executing agency of the project.

Communications Minister Obaidul Quader confirmed that the government is going to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Malaysia on February 21 to construct Padma multi-purpose bridge. Once the MoU is signed, the loan interest and other issues will be finalised through negotiation, the minister said while talking to reporters at Roads and Highways office in the capital. The Malaysian government on January 30 formally offered financing for the construction of Padma bridge project, which has been welcomed by Bangladesh government. Malaysian official news agency Bernama reported on Saturday that a consortium comprising experienced Malaysian construction companies will be set up to undertake the $2.19 billion (RM 6.6 billion) Padma multi-purpose bridge project after the Bangladesh government accepts Malaysia's technical and financial proposals on the project.

On 16th July, China Railway Engineering Corporation has proposed Government of Bangladesh with a better offer than World Bank to build the Padma bridge about no interest and 3 years work time feature.
 

Prospects of Padma Bridge in Bangladesh economy

By facilitating transportation across the river, the Padma Bridge is expected lead to the greater integration of regional markets within the Bangladeshi national economy. On the basis of their suitability of capture primary and secondary economic impacts of construction project, three different types of economy wide models are employed in addition to traditional traffic model to capture the total and economy wide impacts of Padma Bridge. Although outcomes of all types of models are positive, the results show variations due to especially to size of shocks. The results are summarized below. In the Traffic model, road users benefits are estimated based on the saving on vehicle operation costs (VOC) and savings in travel time cost (TTC). Total road user benefit is estimated to be about million 1,295,840 taka over the 31 year period. Out of the total cost of the project ($2.9 billion), it was estimated that about $2.1 billion would be injected into the economy and the rest consists of imports, IDC etc.

 

Prospective 21st century economy of Bangladesh

 

Injection of $2.1 billion into the economy using national SAM model envisaged value added increase of 453,670 million taka. This increase implies that annualized equivalent rate for national GDP would be 0.33 percent compared to the national base GDP (i.e. 4,468,549 million taka). Annual equivalent rates of growth were calculated keeping in view the 31 years as the time taken to fully realize the impact of the bridge. If we took a shorter time horizon for fully realizing the benefit of growth, then the annual equivalent rates could be larger. On the other hand, injection of $2.1 billion into the regional economy using the regional SAM model envisaged that annualized equivalent rate for regional GDP would be 2.3 percent compared to the regional base GDP. However, if it assumed that only 70 percent of the shock would be operative in the region (against full 100 percent or $2.1 billion), the annualized equivalent rate for regional GDP would be roughly 1.66 percent of the regional base GDP. Given that the SAM model assume excess capacity (which may be a reasonable assumption in a country like Bangladesh with under-utilized resources), the size of impacts vary with the size of injection or shock. Using the Traffic mode, road users benefit is found to be million 1,295,840 taka. We consider value added increase of million 453,670 taka derived from the national SAM model (i.e. simulation 1A) as economy wide benefits of the project. Thus, total project benefit is estimated to be 1,749,510 million taka (i.e. Total (1,749,510) = Road User Benefit (=1,295,840) + WEB (=453,670). This implies that total project benefit is 39 percent relative to the base national income (i.e. 4,468,549). Assuming the 31 year full realization timeframe, total project benefits per year is then 1.26 percent relative to the base national income. The base GDP figure would change over 31 years. Assuming 5 percent GDP growth over the 31 period an alternative estimate of base year is arrived. The total project benefit (i.e. 1,749,510) is only 0.56 percent relative to the alternative base national income (average GDP during that period).
 

Padma Bridge urgently require Bangladeshi investment

Padma bridge urgently require Bangladeshi investment particularly from those Bangladeshi living overseas . It is estimated that there is almost 8,715,219 Bangladeshis living abroad and many of them are in a dominant position. Where is there is remittance sent during fiscal year 2012-2013 were $1287.31 million(est).

 

We can drag the example of liberation war, where people from all races people gather together in order to be liberated from the former West Pakistan. Which resulted we achieved our victory after none months bloodshed struggle. Padma Bridge is lying down in a similar situation where NRB(Non residencial Bangladeshi) can contribute by providing more remitances to make a bridge over the river Padma. Bangladesh is ranking 58th among the GDP listing countries and it would have an adverse impact in the economy if Bangladeshi taxpayers have to solely pay from their tax. By taking loan after loan which already made a nation awkward. We can a learn from smaller and united like Israel, where people from within this state and the same perception all are united .

It is time to move backward from the donor country such as World Bank and make a bridge at our own expense.