Dhaka Elevated Expressway to be completed this year: Quader

The construction of the Dhaka Elevated Expressway will be completed within this year, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said on Tuesday.

During a press conference at Setu Bhaban in the capital, he said about 50% of the work on the expressway has been completed and traffic movement has begun from the airport to the Farmgate section.

The remaining part of the expressway up to Kutubkhali will be completed by 2024, said Quader, also the Awami League general secretary.

In addition, he hoped that the work on the BRTA project in Gazipur would be completed by June this year.

He said on average, a Tk2 crore toll is collected from the Padma Bridge per day, adding that the total collection has been Tk1,252 crore since the country's largest bridge was open to traffic in June 2022.

Replying to a question from reporters, the minister said BNP leaders are now talking weird and absurd for their own happiness.

"No one should be jealous of the country's prosperity. The country's interests should be considered first. The government that conducts development work should be appreciated, but unfortunately, this is not happening in Bangladesh," he said.

Responding to the statements of BNP leaders that the grassroots AL leaders are in panic after the 7 January general elections, Quader said the opposition leaders threatened that they would not allow elections to take place, but the government held the polls peacefully except for some sporadic incidents.

"But nothing like what BNP thought actually happened. The voter turnout was 41.8%. The BNP claimed that the country's people did not respond to the election, but they (the people) did not pay heed to them. That was why they (the BNP leaders) are talking weird and absurd for their own peace," he asserted