It is good to see that, ever since the completion of the Padma Bridge this year, a number of infrastructural plans are now being actively planned by the administration to further improve connectivity across Bangladesh.
Case in point: The Bangladesh Bridge Authority has now announced that it is planning to develop an elevated expressway that would connect the nation’s Haor region to Dhaka. Given just how deprived and cut-off the people of Haor are, this is indeed a great idea.
Not limited to the development of Haor, the successful development of this expressway stands to directly impact local tourism as well as it can very well drive more people to Haor. More importantly, it is what this expressway represents in broader strokes that gives us further reason to think this is a good idea: The gradual decentralization of Bangladesh as a nation.
In focusing on regions such as Haor the administration stands to potentially expand development beyond our megacities and urban areas. This is something we can get behind without hesitation.
However, there is of course the question of environmental integrity that the administration needs to be cognizant of before embarking on a project of this magnitude. Large scale construction projects such as bridges should not be limited to mere feasibility tests and such; it is incredibly important that, in the pursuit of development, environmental integrity is not left by the wayside as it is noticed in our cities.
Bangladesh has a bright future ahead in its development trajectory, but unless that development takes the entire nation into consideration it will not take us very far.
