Mawlana Bhasani Bridge, a long-awaited project over the Teesta River, will be officially inaugurated on Wednesday. Local Government Adviser Asif Mahmud Sajeeb Bhuiyan will officially open the bridge for vehicles.
The bridge connects Haripur Ghat in Sundarganj upazila, Gaibandha, to Chilmari in Kurigram. Officials project it will significantly reduce travel time and distance from the capital to the northern districts, slashing the journey from Dhaka to Kurigram by approximately 135 kilometers and saving 3 to 3.5 hours.
Beyond improved passenger travel, the bridge is expected to serve as a critical economic corridor. The improved logistics are forecast to boost the production and transport of industrial and agricultural goods and facilitate the establishment of small and medium-sized factories by lowering both time and cost barriers.
While constructed under the supervision of Gaibandha LGED, the primary beneficiaries are the residents of Kurigram and Lalmonirhat districts. The bridge is poised to end the chronic communication struggles for residents of Kurigram’s Ulipur, Chilmari, and Rowmari upazilas, for whom the existing route to Dhaka via Rangpur has been lengthy and expensive.
This infrastructural hurdle has long been identified as a major impediment to the region’s economic development. The inauguration is therefore met with significant anticipation from farmers, business owners, and students, who expect it to mark the beginning of a new era of connectivity and prosperity, with the most profound impact felt in Chilmari.