Padma Bridge: Trucks, covered vans won’t ply for 48 hours

GBNews24 Desk//

The long-awaited Padma Bridge is going to be inaugurated on June 25 next.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has imposed restrictions on plying of trucks and covered vans on the approached highways of the bridge for two days. Instead, the DMP has requested to use ferries plying on Paturia-Doulatdia and Chandpur-Shariatpur routes as alternative routes for these two days.

DMP’s Media and Public Relations department’s assistant commissioner Abu Taleb informed about it on Wednesday (June 22) evening.

He said movement of covered vans and trucks on the approached highways of Padma Bridge will remain suspended from 6:00am on June 24 to 6:00am on June 26 on the occasion of the inauguration of Padma Bridge on June 25. Because of it, Munshiganj’s Mawa-bound covered vans and trucks have been requested to ply through the ferries of Paturia-Daulatdia route and Chandpur-Shariatpur route from 6:00am on June 24 ro 6:00am on June 26.

The government has already fixed the toll rates for crossing the Padma Bridge. On May 17 last, the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges issued gazette notification fixing the toll rates for using the Padma Bridge.

As per the gazette, the toll rate is Tk 100 for motorcycle, Tk 750 for car and jeep, Tk 1,200 for pick-up van, Tk 1,300 for microbus, Tk 1,400 for minibus (31 seats), Tk 2,000 for medium bus (32 or above seats), Tk 2,400 for big bus (3-axle), Tk 1,600 for small truck (up to 5 tonnes), Tk 2,100 for medium truck (more than 5 tonnes but less than 8 tonnes), and Tk 2,800 for truck (over 8 tonnes but less than 11 tonnes) and Tk 5,500 for trucks up to three axles.

The toll rate is Tk 6,000 for trailers up to four axles while for trucks over four axles it is Tk 6,000 plus Tk 1,500 for additional axle.

The 6.15-kilometre road-cum-rail Padma Bridge between Mawa point in Munshiganj and Janjira point in Shariatpur has connected the capital Dhaka with 21 south-western districts of the country.

The Bangladesh Railway is setting up a 169km long rail link between Dhaka and Jashore at a cost of Tk 39,246.8 crore, which is another fast-track project.