The Bangabandhu Bridge spanning the fast flowing huge expanses of the Jamuna had lifted one million people out of poverty since its construction, leaving a positive impact on the economy at national level. It was disclosed by Asian Development Bank (ADB) last week. The bridge also contributed to a significant reduction of transport cost resulting in marked improvement of trade flows; a noticeable development of the northwest’s regional economy due to increased regional exports of goods and migration of labour; a rise in the production and availability of electricity and natural gas; increasing attractiveness for locating processing plants in the northwest.
The bridge generates multiple benefits for the people by promoting interregional trade, ADB pointed out.
Apart from quick movement of goods and passenger traffic by road and rail, it facilitates transmission of electricity and natural gas and integration of telecommunication links.
The ADB further said the bridge, stretching from Tangail to Sirajganj, is located on the Asian Highway and the Trans-Asian Railway which, when fully developed, will provide uninterrupted international road and railway links from Southeast Asia to Northwest Europe.
The bridge was constructed at a cost of $962 million, which was shared by ADB, the International Development Association and the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund of Japan (presently Japan International Cooperation Agency) with 22 per cent each, and the remaining 34 per cent was borne by the government of Bangladesh.
In northwest part of the country, passenger commutation increased by 18 per cent, volume of interregional trade increased by 5 per cent and there were increases in the movement of trucks (by 89%) and buses (by 130%) between 1997 and 2012 due to construction of the Bangabandhu bridge.
Transfer of natural gas by pipeline has resulted in significant cost savings of power generation in the northwest, the ADB said adding “Reduced transportation costs and access to higher-income markets in the capital have led to increased prices for farm products and substantially added to the farmers’ income.”
Bangabandhu Bridge has encouraged major investments in cement and transportation industries in the northwest, it said.
-With The Independent input
