61% of Dhaka-Bhanga railway connection project completed: Railways minister
Railway Minister Nurul Islam Sujan said that the overall progress of the Dhaka-Bhanga rail link project is at 61% and the project is scheduled to be completed by 30 June 2024.
To implement the project on time, the whole project has been divided into three sections.
Dhaka-Mawa portion of the project has progressed 64.08%, Mawa-Bhanga portion has progressed 80.02% while 91% of the rail link's Bhanga-Jashore portion has been completed.
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"There are plans to make the railway line from Dhaka to Bhanga functional by June 2023 via the Padma bridge. We are working towards that goal", said the rail minister after visiting the Padma Bridge Rail Link Project at Munshiganj on Friday afternoon.
He also said that the construction work, which was halted due to various hurdles like restrictions on working on top of the bridge, will hopefully resume by the end of this month.
Meanwhile, Major General FM Zahid Hossain, chief coordinator of the construction supervision consultant of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge and rail link project, said that once construction is started it will take six months to complete the work of the Padma bridge rail link project.
"We will monitor whether there is any impact of vibration [from traffic on the road], for which we have appointed an expert panel. According to the bridge authority, there will be no effect of vibration as per the design. By testing we will see if there is actually any effect or not", he added.
When asked if there will be any ban on traffic during these six months, FM Zahid Hossain declined saying there can be a few options if vibrations are high like decreasing the speed limit of cars or stopping traffic for a short time.
This will be determined after discussing with the consultation team, he added.
Railways DG Dhirendra Nath Majumder, Chief Convener Major General FM Zahid Hossain, Project Director Mohammad Afzal Hossain, Brig Gen ABL Kalam Azad among others were present during the railway minister's visit.
