Home ›› 25 Jun 2022 ›› Special Supplement
Bangladesh can achieve a double-digit GDP growth through the Padma Bridge, but to make this possible, the government must create an investment-friendly environment for local and foreign investors, reduce tolls, and build more infrastructures for travelling in and out of Dhaka.
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) Civil Engineering Professor Shamsul Hoque told The Business Post in an exclusive interview.
All these steps, however, must be taken quickly to sharply develop the south-western region, as well as the country’s overall economy. How fast the bridge will help Bangladesh achieve a double digit GDP growth will depend on the next steps taken by the government.
The country’s south-western region was deprived of development due to a lack of infrastructure and energy. After building the bridge, a proper land use plan focusing investment should be formulated as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, the Dhaka-Mawa-Bhanga Expressway is also a part of the Asian highway, and the regional highway.
This region has appropriate land for industrialisation and highways for regional connectivity, which will attract local investors, big corporations and international investors within a short period of time. Meanwhile, the Khulna port will be another factor for attracting investments.
On the other hand, the land adjacent to highways and relaxed toll will help push our investors towards the global market within a very short period of time. Even after Bangladesh graduates from the LDC (least developed country) status, the bridge will help us to tackle the challenges by bringing in investments from home and abroad.
The Padma Bridge needs to be introduced not as a transport corridor, but as an economic one.
To cash in on all possible dividends, the country’s investment environment must be friendly and of course, the government will have to prepare a comprehensive development plan centering the available land, and stay on that plan firmly.
Sirajganj, Pabna and other northern districts developed quickly after the construction of Bangabandhu Bridge on River Jamuna. Padma Bridge will allow a faster development of south-western districts, compared to what the Bangabandhu Bridge did for the northern districts.
How planned the steps are taken will decide how fast we would achieve the double digit GDP growth.
Supporting infrastructure a must
Travellers – currently using the Mawa-Kawra Kandi route – had shifted from using the Daulatdia ferry route. This traffic of travellers will be reintroduced in the Daulatdia route after the Padma Bridge’s inauguration.
This will create a big pressure on those entering the capital city. Dhaka is already suffering from a large volume of traffic due to the existing poor transportation infrastructure.
When how much utility can be obtained from the bridge is an issue, a circular ring road centering capital Dhaka needs to be built rapidly. This ring road will help ease traffic gridlock entering the capital. Similarly, from Bhanga, necessary infrastructure needs to be developed to ease vehicle traffic heading for different districts.
Be technical in fixing tolls
Commuters using the bridge will have to pay tolls at multiple areas – in the Mayor Hanif Flyover, Dhaka-Mawa-Bhanga Expressway, Padma Bridge and other places in the south-western region.
To hasten the speed of economic development, it is important to create employment opportunities and set up industries, and to do that, the toll obstacle should be eliminated.
The toll rate – proposed by the Bangladesh Bridge Authority – is right in the sense that the money back needs to be recovered within a certain period of time. But we did not get any loan from donor agencies. We built the bridge with our own money.
Therefore we do not have to hurry up to repay the money within a limited time.
If there is industrialisation, if there is a creation of employment, the government will earn more taxes and VAT indirectly, compared to the earnings from toll
imposed on the travellers. This is more needed to achieve a heavy economy.
If the toll remains tolerable at the very beginning, the countrymen will be pleased too. If it seems not enough, the government can raise the toll after a few years. I think setting up an excessive toll from the very beginning is not the right decision. The government should rethink this decision.
Construction was challenging, but more challenges remain
The River Padma carries the highest sediment after Amazon, and flows with a strong and rapid current which will skewer the riverbed heavily, was the main challenge for the Padma Bridge project.
Another challenge was finding out the comparatively narrow place for building the bridge on such a wide river. How many districts can be connected by building a bridge was challenging as well.
As there are too many pillars, how the flow will act upstream and downstream should be observed closely. Moreover, no one can forecast exactly how the river will erode in the future, and what impacts the phenomenon will cause to both sides of the river bank. We need to understand the morphology of the river to get an idea on such important matters.
