On Wednesday (August 20, 2025), Asif Mahmud Sajeeb Bhuiyan, Advisor to the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives and Youth and Sports of the interim government, inaugurated the much-awaited 1490-meter-long “Maulana Bhashani Bridge” built over Teesta River on the Panchpir Bazar-Kurigram Chilmari Upazila Sadar Road under Sundarganj Upazila of Gaibandha district.
Implemented by the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) and jointly funded by the Government of Bangladesh (GOB), Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) and OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), the total cost of the bridge was Tk 925 crore. This bridge, 1490 meters long and 9.60 meters wide, is a pre-stressed concrete girder bridge with 2 lanes and a total of 31 spans.
The commissioning of the bridge will improve the communication system of Gaibandha, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat and neighboring districts. This will increase the production of industrial and agricultural products, establish new factories, develop the education system, increase employment and accelerate the overall growth of the local economy and GDP.
During the inauguration, the advisor said, “The bridge has been named ‘Maulana Bhashani Bridge’ in honor of the contribution of the oppressed people’s leader Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani in the struggle for the just rights of the people of this township.
The ceremony was presided over by the Chief Engineer of the Local Government Engineering Department, and Dr. Saud bin Ayed Al-Shammari, Director General of Asia Operations of the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), was present as a special guest.
