PM Sheikh Hasina inaugurates Dhaka Elevated Expressway
News Desk
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday afternoon inaugurated the much-awaited Dhaka Elevated Expressway’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport-Farmgate section for traffic.
Sheikh Hasina paid a toll at the Kawla point of the expressway in Khilkhet and became the first person to officially use the road after the inauguration.
She unveiled the nameplate of the expressway at Kawla end of the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport here.
A munajat was later offered seeking welfare of the country and its people.
She joined the inauguration ceremony with her younger sister, Sheikh Rehana, and they were both welcomed with flower bouquets by Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader.
After the inauguration, the colorful balloons were released.
Executive Director of the Bangladesh Bridges Authority and Secretary of the Bridges Division Md Monjur Hossain gave a brief description of the project.
The car carrying the prime minister entered the expressway from the north end in Kawla area after paying toll at the toll plaza there.
PM Hasina got off the expressway in Tejgaon area to join a civic rally at the old trade fair ground in Agargaon marking the grand opening of the Dhaka Elevated Expressway in the afternoon.
The long-awaited expressway is one of the mega infrastructure projects under the current government.
It will take 10 minutes for a vehicle to reach Farmgate from Kawla with a speed up to 60 km per hour.
This is the first project in the transport sector being implemented under the public-private partnership (PPP) with foreign investment.
The airport-Farmgate section will be opened to traffic at 6am on Sunday.