The Bridges on the Rivers Padma and Jamuna

Arindam Sarkar

As the Kolkata-Dhaka Maitree Express races towards its destination, the two bridges come one after another. One was constructed by the British civil engineers before 1947 and the other is a state-of-the-art Japanese steel-work of 21^st century.

The passengers on Maitree Express cross Bangladesh's two mightiest and fabled rivers: Padma and Jamuna. And the two massive bridges over Padma and Jamuna, which for decades have been a part of people's daily life and literature, have now become major landmarks of Bangladesh.

Incidentally, during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, the Pakistan Army destroyed a portion of the Hardinge Bridge on River Padma in order to stop the Mukti Bahini and the Indian Army from reaching Dhaka.

Immediately after the liberation of Bangladesh, the Awami League Government led by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman repaired the Hardinge Bridge. Ever since its construction, the 1.8 km long bridge has been a pride of Padma.

Travelling by train from Kolkata to Dhaka, one first crosses the Padma. The Hardinge Bridge over Padma connects Kushtia district with the Pabna district in Bangladesh. And Dhaka is roughly 250 km from the Hardinge Bridge.

After travelling another 180 km, one hits the River Jamuna in Pabna district. And to reach Tangail in Mymensingh one has to cross Bangladesh's longest – the 8 km long – Jamuna Bridge. The steel and iron structure that connects Pabna with Tangail is less than two decades old.

It takes about roughly 60 km to reach Dhaka after crossing the River Jamuna. Before the construction of the new bridge over Jamuna, the train service used to end at Pabna Railway Station.

After disembarking at Pabna, passengers used to travel by road towards Shirajganj and then use the ferry service to cross Jamuna. On reaching the other side at Jagannathganj, passengers used bus service to reach the Mymensingh district.

Before 1947, Goalando Mail used to ply between Kolkata and Goalando situated on the banks of River Padma in Faridpur district. After disembarking from the train, the passengers used to take steamer service from Goalando to reach Naryanganj across the Padma. And from Narayanganj, it used to take a 45-minute bus ride to Dhaka.

Apart from the two landmark bridges of Bangladesh, the Indo-Bangla Maitree Express also passes the historical Mukta Anchal that was controlled by the Mukti Bahini during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.

In fact, the places like Chaudanga, Kushtia, Pabna, Shirajganj, Tangail and Gazipur that the Maitree Express passes on its way to Dhaka had witnessed some historically important and bloody battles between the combined force of Mukti Bahini and Indian Army against the Bagh Bahini (Pakistani Army).

The first stop for Maitree Express in Bangladesh is Darshana. And very close to Darshana is Meherpur. It is at Meherpur, which is part of Kushtia, where on April 17, 1971, the Bangladesh Government in exile was established with Tajuddin Ahmad as Prime Minister.

The place was renamed Mujib Nagar. Syed Nazrul Islam was the Acting President of the exile government and Mujib, who was in prison in West Pakistan, was the declared the President of the exiled government in absentia.

Maitree Express, which started shuttling once a week between Kolkata and Dhaka from April 14, 2008, is now running four times a week.