Maulana Bhashani Bridge over Teesta River to be inaugurated today

The 1,490-metre-long Maulana Bhashani Bridge over the Teesta River in Sundarganj, Gaibandha, is scheduled to be officially inaugurated today (20 August).

Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuiyan, adviser to the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, will inaugurate the bridge, which was officially named ‘Maulana Bhashani Bridge, Gaibandha’ by the Local Government Department on 10 August.

The bridge will provide direct road connectivity between Panchpir Bazar in Gaibandha and Chilmari Upazila in Kurigram.

Constructed at a cost of Tk 925 crore with funding from the Government of Bangladesh, the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), the bridge is a two-lane, 9.6-metre-wide, 31-span pre-stressed concrete girder structure.

The new bridge is expected to significantly improve transport and trade in the region. It will reduce the travel distance between Gaibandha and Kurigram by up to 60 kilometres and cut the Dhaka–Chilmari route by approximately 135 kilometres.

Previously, locals depended on boats to cross the Teesta—a challenging and often dangerous journey, especially during the monsoon.