Staff Correspondent

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Saturday inaugurated eight overpasses – one for rail, seven for vehicles – and two bridges in Sirajganj ahead of Eid.

He inaugurated these in a virtual ceremony at the secretariat in the capital on Saturday.

“This year’s Eid journey is comfortable like the previous year despite the pressure of traffic. There is pressure of traffic, but no traffic congestion on highways this time,” he told reporters.

The minister also inaugurated the activities of Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) of all toll plazas on Dhaka-Chattogram national highways.

Quader said one railway overpass of 550 metres at Tinmatha rail gate in Bogura, 56-metre long Datiya Bridge, 32-metre long Fatki Bridge, 39-metre long Mulibari overpass, 39-metre Panchila overpass, 35-metre Datpur overpass in Sirajganj, 158-metre B-block Cantonment overpass in Bogura, 178-metre Fultola overpass, 30-metre Dhaperhat overpass in Rangpur and 8-metre Mirzapur overpass opened to traffic from Saturday.

He said those overpasses are the Eid gifts from the Prime Minister to the people.

At a cost of Tk19,160 million, the 190.40-km-long Elenga-Hatikumrul-Rangpur highway is a significant part of the South Asian Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) corridor, Asian Highway-2, BIMSTEC-2, and SAARC Highway Corridor-4.

The highway is being upgraded to a 6-lane with a separate lane provision for slow-moving vehicles through the SASEC-II project funded by the Bangladesh Government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Under the project, there is a provision for the construction of a graded interchange, five flyovers, 32 bridges, and 39 overpasses at Hatikumrul in Sirajganj.

Among these, 14 bridges, one flyover, and 15 overpasses have already been inaugurated by the Prime Minister.

‘There will be no unrest in the entire hill’

Obaidul Quader said, “After the armed attack on the Kuki Chin National Front (KNF) bank in Bandarban, the joint forces are conducting an operation there, and there will be no unrest in the entire hill. Hope the situation will come under control. And there is no reason for the entire mountain to be in turmoil.”

“The thing is, there is a small ethnic group called Bam in Ruma, Rowangchari, Thanchi and some Alikadam areas of Bandarban called Kuki Chin National Front (KNF). Four upazilas in Khagrachari, three in Rangamati and the highest number of 13 small ethnic groups in Bandarban. Among them, the Bam community is not very big. Marmai is predominant there, besides there are Tripura and Chakma communities, they are dominant.”

“There is a state called ‘China’ near the border of China and India. They are believed to have a base there. Talks have also been held with Kuki Chin. After that, an investigation is being conducted to find out the reason why they suddenly took up arms. They may do this when they are offended, but the reason for this is not known. We don't know if Mizoram has anything to do with it,” he also said.

The minister said, “We do not think that any separatist organisation or terrorism will be supported from the border. A joint operation is underway to ensure that the situation does not deteriorate further. Hopefully, the situation will come under control.”