As the cherished new bridge opens,
Expectations are high on the breeze.
Prospect of tie and chance deepens,
Debates show no sign to cease.
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The Padma bridge has finally been inaugurated though setting up of railway on the lower deck has yet to be started. The truss bridge ,second of its kind in Bangladesh after the Hardinge bridge, finally connects the less-accessible South-West part of Bangladesh by road and cuts the transportation time significantly. It will take 4 hours to travel from Dhaka to Jashore. And one can travel from Chattogram to Khulna within 12 hours.That is remarkable. And People of this region are extremely delighted that finally their long wait is over. Their dream unfolds into reality. There is no doubt that the bridge will boost the development of this region.
Dhaka has always been a major consumer center with a population of 25 million. Meanwhile, Borishal division is a major source of agricultural produce. As transportation time reduces, the bridge is a boon for agriculture and manufacturing in this isolated part of Bangladesh. Setting up of agro-processing industry is more plausible in this part of the country. Moreover, informal sector wage is much lower in this region. So there is a real chance to relocate there the domestic clothing factories,now scattered mostly in the outskirts of Dhaka,places like Keraniganj and Narayanganj. During the Eids, this industry caters to the demands of domestic population.
Another industry that will see tremendous boost is the tourism. Dhaka dwellers are hungry for going out. More and more people will spend their vacations and weekends in Kuakata, Sundarbans and other tourist hotspots across the river as they are nearer to Dhaka.
Back in 2018 or 2019, I took a bus ride on a Bakri Eid day to Mawa,one of the sites where Padma bridge construction work was going on. On my way I saw many billboards of real estate companies in the paddy fields of Munshiganj. These “DreamCatchers” or ”DreamCrashers” or “SkyHigh” may soon put up their billboards on the paddy fields of Shariatpur where prices of paddy fields have gone up by four times than what they were couple of years ago.
Agriculture,cloth manufacturing,tourism,transport and real estate are the industries that will see a major leap within 4 years due to Padma bridge. SEZ's ,RMG zones,manufacturing and other sectors will follow suit in the long run.
Apart from domestic development, Padma bridge will also connect the 7 sisters of India with the mainland India. Landlocked states like Tripura,Meghalay and Mizoram will be directly benefitted from this bridge as traveling via Bangladesh to Kolkata brings down the distances by several hundreds of kilometer if governments of two countries take an amicable stance on such connectivity initiative. Right now people of Tripura have to travel 1300 kilometers by train to go to Kolkata.And the journey lasts more than a day. Ordinary people from remote states like Mizoram,Nagaland,Manipur can take cheaper train/bus ride to go to Kolkata and other big cities via Padma bridge. In that sense the bridge connects the region. Importance of Padma bridge will deepen bilateral ties and bring more FDIs from regional countries.
Now come to the cost of Padma bridge. Govt keeps boasting that Padma bridge is a self-financed project.Official cost is around $3.6 billion. But the truss bridge is a double decked one and railway is part and parcel of the bridge. However, government is taking a $2.76 billion loan from Exim Bank of China to set up a 169 km long rail link including railtrack on the bridge all the way from Jashore1. Now if it were built by our own money we would have the leverage to bring few more domestic companies on board to become associate of the main contractor so that they could improve their portfolio to bag more lucrative projects at home and abroad.But truth is we have to import the aluminum railings from abroad. In reality, Bangladeshi engineers and companies have subdued presence in making the bridge. Is it because of the conditionalities of the creditor agency? China Daily claimed that Padma Bridge is part of BRI2. If that is the case why there is so much hiding. There is no wrong in being part of BRI if the project is viable and beneficial for us. But the Foreign Ministry keeps claiming it is financed by our own money. It is interesting that govt is showing rail link credit of $2.76 billion as a separate cost when the bridge is a combo. On the other hand govt is saying that loan for the bridge will have to be repaid in 30 years. But in Wikipedia and in other official domains, there is no information about this Chinese credit. If we add this rail link cost to Padma Bridge cost ,then cost will go up. It is not known when the bridge will reach the break even and whether it will be viable for us.
Meanwhile, our external debt keeps growing.Bangladesh Bank on its websites clearly says that repayments of external debt stock do not represent the military borrowing
3. That means our true external debt,almost doubled in 5 years,is higher by several billions of US dollar.
In the past,we saw govt did not report use of $7 billion of Central Bank's reserve to stabilize the dollar market. In that light, information hiding further thickens suspicion about true cost of Padma bridge.
It is naïve to draw comparison between Hardinge bridge and Padma bridge. I do not know how the British financed the Hardinge bridge. But they always depend on local resources and institutions to finance the development projects here. Easy way to check this is to go to the Ahsan Manzil of Dhaka where donations of Nawabs are documented. And the list includes setting up street lamps,sewerage line,canal excavation etc. Jamindars of Satkhira renovated the flood protection dams from their own money and subjects’ effort. Govt could have followed their steps. Fund could have been arranged from stock exchange,regional development authorities. And the toll money could have gone to these cash-strapped local government bodies.
Most ugly thing the government did is it went for a virulent campaign to assassinate character of those who called into question government’s decision to go ahead with the Padma bridge project without the key development partners. This grand moment could be the occasion to unite all instead of driving further wedge. But rant from the top level even crossed lakshman rekha of decency. And worst part of it that PM was mentioning names of people who voiced concerns over Padma bridge project in a press conference. Earlier a professional even published book compiling articles and views of people criticizing govt's stance on Padma bridge. Disgusting display of denunciation at the highest level shows the anarchist political clout we are living with. It reminds one the treatments of Mao's apparent critics in the denunciation meeting during the cultural revolution in China. People deemed critical to Mao or victims of settling of personal scores ended up in this kind of denunciation meeting. When government after government rehabilitated and empowered this kind of anarchist into professional bodies and public institution ,this is the end result. Constitution gives Bangladeshis right to express their opinion, concerns about how their money is being spent. A democratic government would listen to them and address them based on their merits. An anarchist govt would do what the govt is doing. Reactionary stance is not part of a self-trumpeted “progressive govt”.
There are pitfalls of this bridge. It is anticipated that the bridge would reduce poverty by 1% every year in the South-West. But the lessons left by Jamuna Bridge ,inaugurated in 1998,do not give much reasons to be optimistic. In 2010, poverty rate was 42.3% in Rangpur,one of the region across Jamuna where backbiting poverty still prevails. In 2016,incidence of poverty rose to 47.2% in that region4. Due to COVID ,overall poverty situation deteriorates across the country. Distribution of 10 million family support card hints increased incidence of poverty. It is naïve to assume that one single bridge uplift people out of poverty. There are other pitfalls that I elaborated in my piece “The Dividing Bridge”5. To make this piece concise, I did not bring them up here.
Padma Bridge unfolds the confidence and enthusiasm of this country. At the same time , it remains a symbol of corruption and sore point in the history of our development projects. True cost of this bridge and the details of corruption are yet to be known. Witch hunting and bitterness cracks the unity and wanes further space for dissent and critical voices. And the kind of governance we will experience will decide the winner between the potentials and the pitfalls.
Notes And References:
- “Padma Bridge Rail Link To Open In June 2023,Says Project Director “,Zafar Ahmed and Kazi Mobarak Hossain,June 23,2022,bdnews24.com.
For more read at
https://m.bdnews24.com/en/detail/bangladesh/2080192
- “BRI Provides Benefits For Bangladesh “,Pathik Hasan,October 11,2021,China Daily.
For more read at
https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202110/11/WS6163e762a310cdd39bc6e219.html?fbclid=IwAR2QAEHAGzwIeNoIGBEed2abFHte0SzWIoeqM-dwgEUoJbtbpnoR9EWTdJQ
- Bangladesh Bank
- Bangladesh Economic Review 2019,2022
- “The Dividing Bridge”,Rezaul Hoque,18 December,2015,https://rezaulhoque.WordPress.com
For more read at
https://rezaulhoque.wordpress.com/2015/12/18/the-dividing-bridge/
