The Water Resources Ministry had already sent a proposal for the protection of the river bank to the cabinet division
The government has decided to give the Bangladesh Army the task of protecting a 1300-metre stretch of bank of the Padma River in Mawa-Kandirpara-Jashaldhia areas.
The Water Resources Ministry had already sent a proposal for the protection of the river bank to the cabinet division, a senior ministry official said, adding that the proposal will be placed before the cabinet committee on economic affairs for approval on Sunday.
The official said the proposal should be submitted to the economic affairs committee as the ministry had selected the Bangladesh Army for the river protection work of the Padma River. The river bank protection project involves Tk152.11 crore.
Continued erosion by the mighty river near Mawa old ferry terminal is now posing threat to the Padma Bridge site and also the Mawa-Kewrakandi new ferry terminal.
According to the ministry proposal, if the river erosion goes on, the design of the bridge would have to be partially altered.
This will mean changing the location of several pillars. All these will increase the bridge’s construction cost and in case, the erosion continues this year, the bridge authorities would have no other options but to bring some changes in the bridge’s design, according to the proposal.
The much-talked-about Padma Bridge will connect the southwestern region of the country with the capital. Construction of the 6.15km long bridge involving about $2.3 billion may start this year. The government will fund the mega project.
The project was to be originally funded by the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, Jica and the Islamic Development Bank. But the donors backtracked on funding the project on the grounds that corruption had taken place in selecting the project’s supervising consultant.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
