Padma to have double-decker bridge

The proposed Padma multipurpose bridge will be a double-decker one and will also have a gas supply line on it, Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain said yesterday.
Trains will run on the lower deck of the bridge and motor vehicles will use the upper deck.
The minister said the government has also decided to set up a 500-megawatt power plant and a container terminal at Shibchar of Madaripur on the bank of the Padma.
Abul Hossain was speaking at a rally in connection with starting construction of Sheikhpur bridge on Madaripur-Shibchar road over Beel Padma river at Shichar.Whip of the Jatiya Sangsad Nur-e-Alam Chowdhury was also present at the rally held at Banskandi union parishad ground.
The minister said the Awami League government would ensure a balanced development of the country. It has also taken up a new policy for poverty alleviation.
He mentioned that the BNP-Jamaat alliance government did development work in some specific areas. And the caretaker government during its two-year tenure was busy with tasks for which it did not have the mandate, he added.
Meanwhile, when completed, Sheikhpur bridge would sharply reduce the distance to Kaorakandi river port benefiting people of the southern districts.
Officials said foundation stone of the bridge was laid in March 2001 during the tenure of the previous AL government.