Padma Barrage first phase to be inaugurated early next year, water resources minister says in Pabna

The first phase of the Padma Barrage project will be inaugurated in January-February next year, Water Resources Minister Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie has said. The inauguration will take place whenever Prime Minister Tarique Rahman gives the time, he said.

The minister made the remarks on Sunday noon (October 25) while speaking as chief guest at a technical discussion meeting after visiting the project area at Satbaria in Sujananagar upazila of Pabna.

The minister said that once implemented, one-third of the population of the south-western region — about 70 million people — would benefit from the project. He described it as the government's 'mastermind project' and a tough challenge.

He said the cost of building the Padma Barrage had been estimated at about Tk 35,000 crore. The project will be implemented spending Tk 35,000 crore in the first phase and Tk 50,000 to 55,000 crore in the second phase. It is a mega project and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has taken a courageous initiative; the project was approved at ECNEC within two and a half months of the election, the minister said.

Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie said Begum Khaleda Zia had taken the initiative for the project in 2004 and it had been hoped the work would finish by 2016. Only an elected government can take on a big challenge; an unelected government cannot, he said. The project had been taken up for the improvement of the lives of the riverbank people and in the interest of the country, he noted.

According to the minister, once the project is implemented the dry-season water shortage will be removed, irrigation facilities for farmland will increase, hydropower will be generated, navigation and fisheries will develop, and water supply to important installations will rise.

At the meeting, Hasan Mahmud, project director of the first phase, said the plan was to build the Padma Barrage connecting Sujananagar in Pabna with Rajbari district. Once implemented, the picture of 19 districts including Pabna and Rajbari would change, and a positive change was expected in the lives of one-third of the country's people.

Hasan Mahmud also said that once the Padma Barrage is built, there would be an opportunity to generate electricity for about eight months, and the project would also benefit the Rooppur nuclear power plant. In the monsoon season, the barrage's 78 gates will be kept open so that water-flow management becomes easier.

State Minister for Water Resources Farhad Hossain Azad, Pabna-5 MP Advocate Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas, Pabna-2 MP A K M Selim Reza Habib, reserved women's seat MP Advocate Arifa Sultana Ruma, Deputy Commissioner Aminul Islam and Superintendent of Police Abu Ashraf were present at the event.