Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project

124. Traffic and Transit Accidents: During operation of the bridge, roads, and railway major trafficaccidents will cause short-term closure of the road, railway and bridge operation. Towing of damagedvehicles, locomotives and cars will be required quickly to resume operation. Alerting upazila HealthComplex (if applicable) will also be required. Inspection of railway line and lower bridge deck afteremergency has been mitigated.125. Terrorist Event/Threats: During a Credible Terrorist Threat or events increased security andpolice presence and/or military action, security check points, or closure of the Bridge and approachroad will be required. An evacuation plan will also be required in the emergency response plan.126. Potential Erosion: Based on the morphological study for structural intervention (Updated RTWScheme Design, Annex C, Section 9.4, submitted on April 15, 2010), it is identified that for differenttypes of channel development due to the construction of river training works, three locations (Figure 2-2) could be vulnerable to erosion and the extent and magnitude are considered indicative. There is noconfirmed analysis on these erosion predictions. Comparison is done on the boundaries based onnatural envelope for the next 50 years and the maximum erosion extent for the structural interventionsshows that additional erosion for the structural interventions would be about 900 ha along the rightbank, located at about 15 km downstream of the bridge crossing. Since, these changes are notimmediate, a monitoring program for the downstream river (for example as part of the regular annualmonitoring program ending at Chandpur) can be undertaken by BBA/BWDB under the CharlandManagement and Monitoring Program and accordingly prepare mitigation plan.7.4 Associated, Induced, and Regional Impacts127. After the construction of the project, at regional scale a lot of developments are expected to takeplace due to the faster road communication, particularly in the south-western part of the countrywhere there are potentials of development. In addition, the railway connection will be realized after theconstruction of the bridge.7.4.1.1 Road Network Development128. As indicated in Chapter 1, Asian Highway will enter Bangladesh at Tamabil Land port, Sylhet inthe north-east and end at Benapole Land port, Jessore in the southwest, which will cross the majorriver Padma via the Padma Bridge. The existing national highway in this corridor will be upgraded toAsian Highway standard along with road structures and bridges/culverts. While the whole north-eastand south-west zones of the country will be directly benefited from Asian Highway, of particularSylhet, Maulovibazar, Habiganj, Brahmanbaria, Narsingdi, Narayanganj, Munshiganj in the north-eastside and Madaripur, Gopalganj, Narail, Jessore will fall in the direct zone of influence with the existingroad-network. In addition, land locked region of the north eastern parts of India, Assam (a naturalhinterland of both Chittagong and Mongla ports) will have traditional route connecting West Bengal,India and cut down the distance by almost 60%. A few other districts will also be connected with theAsian Highway with the existing road network. With the increased road traffic volumes on these roadsafter the Padma Bridge and Asian Highway, these roads will require upgrading as appropriate.129. Road network development will entail construction of new roads and up gradation of existingroads that will result in potential significant negative and positive impacts as follows:Major Negative Impacts Loss of seasonal floodplain Deterioration of roadside air quality Land acquisition and resettlement Loss of agricultural lands Change in landuse130. Loss of seasonal floodplain: Construction of roads will require lands which are in Bangladeshlow-lying agricultural lands that are seasonally flooded and behave like wetlands during monsoon.Thus the wetlands will be affected significantly. In addition, there are some permanent seasonalfloodplains in the country with diversified biological functions, particularly in the north-east zone of thecountry. Construction of roads on these wetlands will have potential significant high negative impact.131. Deterioration in roadside ambient air quality: Construction and up gradation activities of roadswill generate air emission including dust that will affect population and communities along the existing7-34