There is a possibility of laying the foundation stone of the construction of the much-anticipated new Kalurghat Bridge in December, said Railway Secretary Dr. Md. Humayun Kabir. He said this at the stakeholder meeting held in the conference room of the office of the General Manager of Railway Eastern Region at CRB in the city on Saturday. He said, we hope that after completing all the processes, Hon’ble Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of Kalurghat Bridge in December. Already the loan agreement with Korea for the construction of Kalurghat Bridge has been completed. The DPP formulation of the project will begin in July and the tendering process will also be completed. After that, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will be present and lay the foundation stone of the construction of the bridge next December.
An agreement was signed between the governments of Bangladesh and South Korea on the construction of the Kalurghat bridge last Thursday. Secretary of ERD. Shahriar Quader Siddiqui and Yoon, CEO of South Korea’s Exim Bank, signed the two agreements. In the project titled ‘Bangladesh Construction of Railway-cum-Road Bridge Across the River Karnaphuli at Kalurghat Point’, Bangladesh will get a loan of 72.47 million dollars from the EDCF fund and 90 million dollars from the EDPF fund.

The railway bridge built during the British era at Kalurghat on the Karnaphuli river is 94 years old. In 2001, Chuet’s expert team declared the dilapidated bridge dangerous. Then in 2004 it was repaired and traffic was banned on it. The bridge was again declared unsafe in 2011. Currently the bridge is being renovated under the supervision of BUET’s expert team. BUET was hired as a consultant for the repair of the bridge at a cost of Tk 8 crore. The repair work of the bridge under the supervision of BUET’s expert team is nearing completion. As the first step of the repair, trains started running on Cox’s Bazar route for the first time last December. The concerned engineers of the railways said that vehicles will also run through this bridge when the repair work is completed in full swing. Trains on Cox’s Bazar route and vehicles on both sides will continue to run through the old bridge until the new bridge is constructed.

According to the information provided by the Railway Secretary, the new bridge will be constructed 70 meters upstream of the old Kalurghat bridge when the foundation stone is laid next December. The length of the main bridge of 12.2 meters height will be 700 meters. Width will be 70 feet. 50 feet of this will be double gauge and meter gauge double track. A two-lane road will be constructed within 20 feet.
Railway Secretary Dr. regarding train movement on Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar route in CRB’s meeting. Md. Humayun Kabir said “Cox’s Bazar railway has quickly become one of the most profitable routes in the country. There is now a special train running on the Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar route. It will not be stopped. We have plans to run more trains on this route”.
Railway Eastern General Manager Nazmul Islam, COPS Shahidul Islam, CCM Mahabubur Rahman, district freedom fighter commander Sarwar Kamal and other representatives of railway participated in the meeting.