The two-storey multipurpose bridge is Bangladesh’s longest bridge

India has extended its greetings to Bangladesh on the successful completion of the 6.15-km long bridge on the Padma River, inaugurated by the country’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday.

“The completion of this long-awaited project is testimony to the courageous decisions and farsighted leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. This success vindicated the Prime Minister's decisions and also our conviction in this regard, as expressed through our steadfast support when Bangladesh decided to proceed with the project alone,” Indian High Commission in Dhaka said in a press release.

The multipurpose road-rail bridge has been constructed at a cost of US $3.6 billion. “This bridge is not just bricks, cement, iron, and concrete. This bridge is our pride, a symbol of our capacity, our strength and our dignity. This bridge belongs to the people of Bangladesh,” Prime Minister Hasina said.

Hailing the importance of the Padma bridge, the Indian High Commission said it would not only “improve intra-Bangladesh connectivity, it will also provide much needed impetus to logistics and businesses connecting India and our shared subregion. This bridge will play an important role in fostering greater bilateral and subregional connectivity.”

“The people of India once again congratulate the fraternal people of Bangladesh on the momentous occasion of inauguration of Padma Bridge, in the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh Liberation,” the High Commission added.

The Padma bridge project witnessed several engineering marvels as well as technological challenges. It emerged as a highly impressive structure for Bangladesh and saw the use of state-of-the-art machinery and knowhow. Though the main bridge is 6.15 km long, it stretches for 10.642 km with 41 spans attached to 42 pillars.