Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project

Mode Terminal Departure Arrival1. Ferry Mawa 32Kewrakandi 332. Launch Mawa 69 64Kewrakandi 27 373. Speedboat Mawa 187 234Kewrakandi 172 143Source: The Consultant’s Traffic survey 2009.112. There are ongoing dredging activities to keep the channel operational in Janjira side close toKewrakandi ferry ghat by the IWTC. Water from Padma River and riverbed sediment samples werecollected from these locations and tested. The water and sediment quality data are presented inSection 3.3. There are no major concerns with the water and sediment quality.3.5.4 Health and Safety113. All three project affected districts have each one district hospital. Each district has severalupazilas and all Project affected upazilas (Lauhajang, Janjira and Shibchar) have upazila HealthComplex (UHC), with a capacity of 50 to 100 beds. Each upazila consists of several unions and eachunion has a Union Health and Family Center and a Rural Health Sub-Center. Further NGOs alsoarrange temporary health care facilities in these areas. The most common afflictions in the Projectareas are diarrhoea, anaemia, dengue, skin diseases, deficiency diseases, eye diseases, eardiseases, and water borne diseases due to malnutrition and lack of hygiene and poor living conditionsas reported in the Public Health Action Plan (PHAP) of PMBP, December 2009.114. Road and traffic accidents in Bangladesh are normally high compared to other countries inAsia. BRTA statistics for the year 2008 in Dhaka division indicate that the number of fatalities,grievous, and simple injuries are 787, 202, and 47, respectively. For the same year in Dhakadivision fatal accidents and fatal + injury accidents per 10,000 population are 0.189 and 0.249,respectively. Traffic accidents in the project influence districts are provided in Table 3-44. Besides,there are accidents caused by the ferry operations, water transport (speed boats, country boat, launchetc.) in the project area.Table 3-44: Recorded Casualty Accidents by Project DistrictNumber of Accidents Population 2 Accident RatesProjectSeverity ('000,000) (no. per 10,000 pop'n)DistrictSimple TotalSimpleFatal GrievousGrievousInjuryInjuryMunshiganj 7 5 0 12 1.618 0.043 0.074Madaripur 30 14 2 46 1.422 0.211 0.323Shariatpur 13 1 1 15 1.323 0.098 0.113Source: BRTA Annual Report, 2008.Notes: 1. This is the recorded number of accidents involving casualties (fatal and injury). Accidents causingonly damage of property are not included in the report.2. Year 2008 populations are derived from statistics published in the Population Census 2001Preliminary Report.115. Padma Bridge will attract significant number of traffic on the bridge including in the approachroad. Higher traffic causes higher rate of incidences. A significant part of the population, in particularat the approach road in Janjira side, is not used to heavy traffic and will have to learn adjusting to newconditions. Dust producing traffic impairs visibility for the drivers as well as for people and animalsduring construction.3.5.5 Tourism116. Conventional tourism, in the truest sense of the term, is yet to take its root in both the Mawaand Janjira sites of the project area. Rudimentarily, such facilities are in existence, in one way oranother, in both the sites through operators of engined country boats and speed boats offering strayvisitors short journeys along the main River.3-64