He said this in his speech after inspecting the site of the proposed Padma Barrage project at Habaspur in Pangsha Upazila of Rajbari today.

At that time, Finance and Planning Adviser T. Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, State Minister for Water Resources Farhad Hossain Azad MP, State Minister for Culture Ali Neowaz Mahmud Khaiyam MP, and Member of Parliament for Rajbari-2 constituency Md. Harun Or Rashid were present.

The Water Resources Minister said that if the Padma Barrage is implemented, along with the economic transformation of 24 districts in the southwest region, there will be major changes in the agriculture and fisheries sectors. Under the project, two hydropower generation plants with a capacity of 113 megawatts will be constructed. He also said that the technical survey of the project began in 2004 during the time of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.

Annie Chowdhury said that necessary manpower has been recruited for the Padma Barrage project and they have started work. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Tareq Rahman, the current government has approved the project at a cost of Tk 34,497 crore with entirely domestic financing. The project will be implemented over a period of seven years.

The proposed Padma Barrage will be 2.1 kilometres long. It will have 78 spillway gates, 18 under-sluice gates, one navigation lock, and two fish passes. A railway bridge will also be constructed over the barrage.

During the site inspection, Secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources Dr. A K M Shahabuddin, Director General of the Water Development Board Md. Ruhul Amin, Deputy Commissioner of Rajbari Afroz Parvin, Administrator of the District Council Abdus Salam, and other concerned officials were present.