Two killed as Padma Bridge euphoria turns into chaos

Two motorcyclists were killed in an accident as enthusiasm turned into tragedy after the much-awaited Padma Bridge was opened for vehicular movement on Sunday.

Many were seen walking on the bridge indiscriminately and parking their vehicles, flouting the instructions of the authorities.

SM Mizanur Rahman, additional superintendent of police, Naria circle, Shariatpur told New Age that around 8:00pm at Munshiganj end of the bridge a motorcycle was involved in an accident, leaving two people critically injured.

Dhaka Medical College Hospital police outpost in-charge Bacchu Mia said that they were brought dead at the hospital around 10:30pm. The victims are Alamgir, 24 and Fazlu, 25, he said.

Police earlier arrested a man, who unscrewed nuts and bolts of the bridge railing to make content for the video hosting service TikTok.

Amid the chaos, the authorities on Sunday banned plying of motorcycles on the bridge until further notice.

Quoting the bridge authorities, the Press Information Department of the information ministry confirmed the matter in a handout.

In this context, Padma Multipurpose Bridge project authorities sent a letter to the Bangladesh Army requesting to strengthen patrolling and security at the Mawa and Janjira points of the bridge. 

The bridge authorities said that they would go for tougher action from today.

The passengers and transport workers, however, appeared very happy as the bridge cut their travel times significantly.

More than 20,000 vehicles, mostly motorcycles, crossed the bridge in both directions in the first 10 hours of the day, officials said.

Mahmudur Rahman, executive engineer of Bangladesh Bridge Authority said that 60.53 per cent of vehicles that crossed the bridge during the period were motorcycles.

Traffic congestion was seen at Mawa point amid a huge rush of vehicles almost all day.

Witnesses said that many vehicles, including trucks, pickup vans, buses, cars and motorcycles joined the queues on both sides of the bridge long before it was open for the movement of regular vehicles in the morning.

The bridge was scheduled to be opened for traffic movement at 6:00am, but Bangladesh Bridge Authority executive engineer Mahmudur said they had a start the process a bit early due to the huge of vehicles.

At 5:50am, a motorcyclist paid the toll at Mawa point to cross the bridge, he said.

As the day passed, the queues at the toll plaza at both Mawa and Jajira points, however, became smaller.

People in different vehicles were seen in festive moods and many of them stopped at the bridge, got down from their vehicles, walked, took selfies and some even offered sijdah. Many people were seen travelling on reserved buses just to see the bridge. They brought balloons and played songs as they crossed the bridge.

Criminal Investigation Department’s cyber policing unit arrested TikToker Bayzid Talha at Shantinagar in the capital Dhaka after a video of him unscrewing nuts of the bridge railing went viral on social media.

Family members take a selfie on the Padma Bridge after parking their vehicle on the bridge on Sunday. — Sony Ramany 

Confirming the arrest, CID cyber policing unit special police superintendent Rejaul Masud said that they believe the TikTok video was made on Saturday after the inauguration of the bridge.

Soon after the inauguration programme and rally on both sides of the bridge, thousands of people on feet thronged the bridge, ignoring the instruction of authorities.

Bayzid was on the bridge during the moment and he unscrewed two nuts of Padma Bridge for making a TikTok video, said the CID official.

In the 34-second TikTok video, the youth was spotted unscrewing nuts of a railing of the bridge. He also criticised the authorities for keeping the nuts loose.

The video went viral on social media.

Movement of people on foot and parking of vehicles continued on the bridge till evening.

BBA executive engineer Mahmudur said that district magistrates of Munshiganj and Shariatpur, members of law enforcement agencies and patrol teams designated for the bridge went to the bridge around noon to disperse the people.

‘We were not very strict on the first day seeing people’s joy. They did not pay heed to our requests for leaving the bridge,’ he said.

‘But from Monday we will strictly implement the rules for using the bridge,’ he said.

The bridge authorities said they would operate mobile courts from Monday with the help of district officials.

Project director Md Shafiqul Islam sent a letter to the army’s Engineering Support and Safety Team, designated to ensure the security of the bridge. Passengers travelling through the bridge, however, said that they enjoyed their journey despite the slow pace in the toll plaza due to manual operation.

Arifur Rahman, an engineer by profession, told New Age that he started from Khulna city by bus at 5:20am and reached Gulistan in Dhaka at 8:30am.

‘I’m very happy that I didn’t have to wait eight to nine hours to cross the river anymore,’ he said.

Saydabad Inter-District Bus Terminal Owners Association chairman Abul Kalam said that from Barishal a bus came to Dhaka in four hours and a bus from Khulna came in three hours and 10 minutes.

The bridge cut the travel time by almost half, he said.

‘We are very happy that this bridge is cutting time and saving us from traffic congestion,’ said Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association secretary general Khandakar Enayet Ullah.

Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation general manager Major Md Moktaruzzaman said that they ran 53 buses on 18 different routes using the bridge on the first day of its opening.

The feasibility study of the bridge conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency between 2003 and 2005 estimated that 19,703 vehicles would pass the bridge a day in 2022.  ‘We are estimating that 35,000 to 40,000 vehicles will cross the bridge in 24 hours today,’ said BBA executive engineer Mahmudur.

BBA executive engineer Tofazzal Hossain said until 2:00pm they collected Tk 82,19,250 in tolls from 15,202 vehicles that crossed the bridge up to that period.

Tofazzal said that 8,440 vehicles, including 4,966 motorcycles, crossed the bridge from Mawa point until that period and paid Tk 46,89,750 as tolls. During the same time, 6,762 vehicles crossed the bridge from Janjira point and paid Tk 35,29,500 as tolls, he said.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Padma Bridge on Saturday amid grand celebrations and enthusiasm.

The Bangladesh Bridge Authority constructed the 6.15-kilometre road-cum-railway bridge between Mawa point in Munshiganj and Janjira point in Shariatpur at the expense of Tk 30,193 crore, entirely financed by the Bangladesh government.

On May 17, the government o fixed the toll rates for using the bridge ranging from Tk 100 to over Tk 6,000 for different vehicles.

News Courtesy:

https://www.newagebd.net/article/174398/two-killed-as-padma-bridge-euphoria-turns-into-chaos