Connecting Bangladesh better

For any government taking charge of Bangladesh, seamlessly connecting different regions through roads, rail and waterways had always been a big challenge. Because Bangladesh is a riverine country that mostly sits on 18 kilometres of sediments on oceanic rocks. Building permanent structures here is not quite permanent – as nature takes them away; either through floods, natural disasters or through sedimentation.

Perhaps this is why no government had taken up any "all-out" plan to connect different regions of Bangladesh by all means possible – rail, road, waterways and air.

This is where Sheikh Hasina's leadership shines. She has taken so many initiatives for connectivity in the last decade that outshines all other efforts together in the past.

These include building the Padma Bridge, the tunnel under the Karnaphuli River, doubling the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway, expanding the railroads, elevated expressways, metro rail in Dhaka, massive dredging of all river routes, building a deep seaport, modernising land ports and seaports, building sea terminal and all.

Today the government's investment stands 8.67% of the GDP – most of which is focused on infrastructure. Back in 2008, it was 4.67%.

After coming to power, Sheikh Hasina initiated the Padma multipurpose bridge project at a cost of Tk10,162 crore. Later, the project added a railroad and thus its cost doubled.

This project saw its set of trouble. In the beginning, the project was being funded by the World Bank along with the Asian Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica). The World Bank raised an allegation of corruption by Bangladeshi authorities in handling the bidders and started delaying the finances.

At one point the project became so uncertain that it seemed like the Padma Bridge would never happen. But Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina decided to go ahead without any donor agency and fund the project from Bangladesh's own pocket.

After all, Bangladesh has nothing but to win a GDP growth of 1.5% if this bridge is successfully completed. This would also change the living standard of 21 districts in the southwest.

The move not only turned the table for the dignity of Bangladesh; but also trashed the dominance of the World Bank's opinion over development projects in developing countries.

But finding such an enormous domestic fund for the bridge project was another challenge for the then finance minister AMAMuhith. Many were doubtful. The bridge also had serious engineering challenges. Due to the complex nature of the River Padma and the geological nature, the engineers had to change the pillar designs several times.

Despite all of these problems, the government has announced that the bridge will be open to the public next year.

For rail connectivity with this bridge, the government is implementing a 172km railroad from Dhaka, to Mawa, to Bhanga ending in Jashore from 2016. This project is costing the nation Tk39,000 crore.

The day the Padma Bridge would be inaugurated, a 42km railroad should be ready to take passengers from Mawa to Bhanga, covering a distance of 42 kilometres. Sources said 70% of this work has been completed.

To get the best benefit of the bridge, the government has also completed a feasibility study to build a 212km railroad from the upcoming seaport Payra to Bhanga.

Besides, a 55km expressway has been built between Dhaka and Bhanga. Once the bridge is open, people from Dhaka can go to Bhanga within 40 minutes.

In other parts, the government converted the two-lane Dhaka-Chittagong Highway into four lanes and cut down commuting time to four hours from eight hours. This Tk3,439 crore 192km project has increased passenger and goods transportation by 10% per year.

Side by side with improving this highway, the government has taken up a project to upgrade the Dhaka-Chittagong rail line to dual gauge double line. A part of this 321km rail line has already been upgraded. The project will be completely upgraded by next year by the construction of a 48km dual gauge line between Akhaura and Cumilla. This will facilitate the movement of another dozen inter-city trains and the travel time will reduce by at least one hour.

The government similarly took up projects to build or upgrade hundreds of kilometres of road and rail networks across the country – ranging from Mymensingh, Gazipur, Burimari, Shili land port, Elenga and so on.

The construction of the first metro rail system in Dhaka with a Japanese fund is another milestone for Bangladesh.

The 20km project costing Tk22,000 crore will help people commute from Uttara to Motijheel. Its work began in 2012 and would be completed in 2024. A part of the project spanning 11km from Uttara to Agargaon will be launched in December next year. Once complete, the travel time from Uttara to Motijheel will just be 40 minutes.

This will follow more metro rail lines in other routes. Another route will take passengers from Dhaka airport to Kamalapur, Notun Bazar to Purbachal. This 31km metro rail will cost Tk52,000 crore and it would be completed by 2026.

Another line will be built from Hemayetpur to Gabtoli, Mirpur 10, Banani, Gulshan 2 ending in Bhatara by 2028.

As many as six metro rail lines have been recommended by the Revised Strategic Transport Plan to ease commuting in the capital city; while Jica in a survey identified 108 possible rail stations.

Other than these initiatives, the government is also working on eight flyovers – some of these have been very slow, but these will be eventually completed within 2026.

Other than road and rail work, the government has undertaken a massive project to upgrade the Shahjalal Airport within 2025 at a cost of Tk21,000 crore.

The government has also embarked on country-wide river dredging schemes and has recovered around 2,300 kilometres of waterways. Bangladesh now has at least 5,900km of waterways during the dry season – up from only 3,865km in 2005.

Waterways are considered the cheapest means of cargo transportation. A World Bank study in 2007 showed that per tonne per kilometre transport cost through waterways was Tk0.99 while it was Tk2.74 for rail and Tk4.50 for road.

The government has also put Payra and Maheshkhali in the limelight with massive development work. Till recent years, both Payra and Maheshkhali were uninteresting places. But now Payra enjoys the status of a seaport while Maheshkhali'sMatarbari is set to become the country's first deep-sea port.

Payra is already hosting a large coal power plant and in the future more power plants will be built there.

Matarbari is set to become the country's future energy hub as the government has plans to develop 10,000MW power generation capacity there. Besides, an economic zone is being set up there along with tourism facilities.

Right now, the nation is taking the pressure of roads and bridges constructions. Once completed, the nation will have connectivity like no other time before.

Jahidul Islam (left) and Sharier Khan (Right)/TBS sketch