28 km connecting road is being constructed from Padma Bridge to Shariatpur

The Roads and Highways Department (RHD) has started construction of a 28-kilometer connecting road from the Naodoba end of Jajira in Shariatpur of Padma Bridge to the district town. To this end, the district administration has been working to acquire 105.05 hectares of land since September last year. The project worth Tk 1,062 crore will be implemented by June 30, 2024, the RHD said.


Talking to Shariatpur district administration and RHD officials, it was learned that the government is planning to open the Padma Bridge to traffic in June this year. The 6.15 km long bridge from Mawa end of Munshiganj meets at Naodoba end of Jajira upazila of Shariatpur. Vehicles going south-west of the country will cross the bridge toll plaza from Naodoba and take the 10 km connecting road to the Shibchar Expressway in Madaripur. But there is no wide road for the residents of Shariatpur district to travel from Naodoba. Therefore, Iqbal Hossain and Enamul Haque Shamim, two MPs from Shariatpur, gave semi-government demand letter (DO letter) for construction of connecting road on this route. Last year, the project was approved at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC). After that, Shariatpur RHD sent a letter to the district administration regarding acquisition of 105.05 hectares of land for construction of four lane road.


According to the district administration, the district administration started acquiring land for the 28-kilometer road from September last year. The owners of the land concerned have been informed about the acquisition with notice. The cost of land acquisition has been fixed at Tk 1,217 crore. The road department has given Tk 110 crore to the district administration to pay the affected people. The RSA has invited tenders for the construction of a 13-kilometer, 34-foot-wide, two-lane road in a cluster project. In another cluster project, construction of two road bridges has started.


Bhuiyan Redwanur Rahman, executive engineer of Shariatpur RHD, told Prothom Alo that the Padma Bridge-Shariatpur link road would be constructed in three packages. Currently the road will be two lanes. Land is being acquired for four lanes. Two more lanes will be added next time. If the land acquisition work is completed and the land is handed over, the road construction work can be completed as soon as possible.

Shariatpur Deputy Commissioner. Parvez Hasan told Prothom Alo that the Padma Bridge will be launched in June. Earlier, land acquisition work was underway for the construction of road connecting Padma Bridge with Shariatpur district town.