Mayor Hanif flyover opens

Bangladesh's largest flyover, the 11.7-km-long ‘Mayor Mohammad Hanif’ flyover, connecting Gulistan with Jatrabarhi has been inaugurated.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina opened the flyover on Friday, the foundation stone of which she had laid on Jun 22, 2010. The project is estimated to have cost Tk 21.08 billion.

Constructed on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) basis, the flyover connects with main roads and bus terminals. The four-lane flyover has six entry and seven exit points.

Hasina opened the flyover's Gulistan side, and after 3pm went to the Jatrabarhi-Kutubkhali toll plaza and unveiled the plaque.

She joined a special prayer there and bought a toll ticket, paying a token Tk 50.

The project's contractor Orion Group Chairman Mohammad Obaidul Karim handed Hasina a token toll ticket.

The Prime Minister passed the toll plaza on foot after paying the fee and waived back at thousands of people gathered there.

She then went to the Osmani Auditorium and addressed a gathering there.

The project was initiated in 1998.

Orion Infrastructure Limited has funded and executed the project, a Canadian construction company designed the flyover, while Indian construction firm Simplex Infrastructural Ltd built it.

Dhaka City Corporation supervised the construction.

Orion Group will manage the flyover, collect toll and maintain it and cover the construction cost from the toll fee collected over a 24-year period.

Five percent of daily toll will be submitted to the Dhaka City Corporation (South) fund. The DCC South will take over the flyover after 24 years.

The estimated life of the structure has been fixed at 100 years. It will help vehicles from 30 southern and south-western districts reach the capital avoiding gridlocks.

Toll rates have been fixed as Tk 200 for trailers, truck Tk 150, bus Tk 150, minibus Tk 100, pickup Tk 75, microbus Tk 50, jeep Tk 40, private car Tk 35, autorickshaw Tk 10 and two-wheelers Tk 5.

However, pedestrians will not have to pay any toll.

Parts of the flyover will be opened after the inauguration. There are some construction work still left at Sayedabad and Jatrabarhi. These are expected to be completed within December.