PM Modi, Bangla’s Sheikh Hasina inaugurate Rupsha bridge

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina this week jointly inaugurated the 5.13 km Rupsha rail bridge, which is a key part of the 64.7 km Khulna-Mongla Port broad gauge rail project. The Rupsha rail bridge is a part of the Khulna-Mongla port rail line project under the Government of India’s concessional line of credit extended to Bangladesh. The bridge will help in enhancing people-to-people contact and facilitating regional economic integration. Several efforts have been taken by both countries to enhance connectivity by building railways and waterways linkages. The 5.13-km broad-gauge single-track railway bridge has been constructed by Larsen & Toubro. The total project (Khulna-Mongla port rail line project) cost is $388.92 million, while the cost of constructing the Rupsha bridge is $169.26 million. The bridge construction involved a lot technology and has features such as navigation fender piles upstream and downstream of the pier for ensuring navigation safety in the river. The navigational clearance for the main bridge is more than 18 m above Standard High-Water Level (SHWL). The bridge will greatly increase the connectivity of Mongla Port, the second largest port in Bangladesh, and provide the alternate root of maritime. It will also allow other countries in the region to use the port and boost sub-regional development. See also: The construction of 1,000km rail work is in progress: PM ModiRailway to replace conventional coaches for zero casualties in derailments