Communication — Road, Rail and Waterways

218. Rail and water ways will be given priority in order to develop communication infrastructure of the country. A multimodal communication system will be developed throughout the country by reconstructing and rejuvenating rail, road and water transport system.

219. A deep sea port will be built in the Bay of Bengal in the vicinity of Chittagong coastal area and it will be turned into a regional hub. The deep sea port will be connected with the capital city Dhaka and the neighboring countries through a super-highway. 

220. The efficiency of Chittagong and Mongla port will be increased and they will be modernized to make regional and international trade and connectivity easier. 

221. Once Bangladesh had 24000 kilometers of navigable waterways. But by now either because of silting or drying the waterways have come down to only 3600 kilometers. This is a horrible picture of riverine Bangladesh. A mega project will be taken up to recover selected waterways and their multi-purpose use through dredging of rivers. The multi-purpose use of these rivers will be serving as a source of surface water, fisheries, boosting the flow of surface water, and recharging underground water. 

222. Underground tunnels will be built under Karnaphully, Buriganga, Gomoti, Padma, Jamuna and Meghna rivers. 

223. To ensure safety of passengers and transportation on waterways, safe ships will be increased in the private sector and landing stations will also be increased on the bank of Buriganga and other rivers. Faster moving passenger ships will be introduced in Dhaka-Chandpur and Dhaka-Barisal routes. 

224. Necessary shipping infrastructure including pontoons will be set up in small ports and ghats spreading over different remote areas of Bangladesh. 

225. Like Pangaon, container terminal built during last BNP government, necessary number of container terminals will be built at different industrial belts of the county including Dhaka, Gazipur, and Narayanganj.

226. To make communication and transport safe and comfortable between islands and the coastal areas, necessary infrastructure will be built up and necessary number of coastal ships will be introduced. 

227. The whole country shall be brought under rail network through building Dhaka-Laksam cord line, Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar and Dhaka-Barisal railway line. Fast trains shall be introduced among Dhaka and other divisional cities. Thus all the districts of the country will be brought under rail network in phases.

228. Bangladesh will be connected with Asian Highway. Initiatives will be taken to establish regional road connectivity and rail connection between Dhaka and Kunming. 

229. To solve traffic jam problem of the cities including Dhaka and Chittagong, traffic system shall be revamped.

230. For further development of road transportation, second JamunaBridge, second Padma Bridge at Paturia-Daulotdia points and Brahmaputra Bridge shall be constructed. More bridges shall be constructed over the rivers Buriganga, Meghna, Gomoti, and Karnaphully. Necessary bridges will be constructed over small and big rivers.

231. Dhaka-Chittagong express highway will be constructed to facilitate fast movement between Dhaka and Chittagong. Highways throughout the country will be developed into four lanes in phases. Road network such as national highways, regional highways, Upazilla connecting roads, and local roads will be developed appropriately and their maintenance will be ensured.

232. Initiatives for establishing road and rail communication network with SAARC and ASEAN countries will be taken. Initiative will also be taken to be connected with ‘One Belt One Road’ initiative of People’s China.