Motorcyclist becomes first civilian to cross Padma Bridge

Motorcyclist Aminul Islam, 35, became the first civilian to cross the Padma Multipurpose Bridge from the Mawa end after paying a toll of Tk 100 after the mega structure was opened to commoners on Sunday morning.

The bridge opened 10 minutes before schedule at around 6am and toll collection at Mawa point was delayed due to manual system. 

Aminul said that he arrived in the area with his friends from Kamrangirchar to cross the bridge. They were waiting for the toll plaza to open since dawn and long queues of vehicles were seen on Mawa and Jajira ends of the bridge.

Toll collection at Mawa point was delayed due to manual system. Five booths out of six were opened on Sunday for collecting toll.

Syed Rajab Ali, executive engineer of Padma Multipurpose Bridge, said toll collection process is a bit slow as today is the first day. The process will be speedy later, he hoped.

The 6.15-kilometre-long bridge will connect the southwest of Bangladesh with Dhaka through road and rail links. It took seven years to complete the construction of the country's longest bridge.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated Bangladesh's longest bridge on Saturday amid huge festivity. It was an emotional and joyous moment for her and the nation.

Many people were looking forward to the opening of the bridge on Sunday. A lot of them queued up at different ends of the bridge at night with various vehicles to cross the bridge in the morning.

A long line of vehicles was seen at the Mawa end in the early hours of Sunday. Before the clock hit six, 14 toll gates on both ends of the bridge were opened.