Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mayor Md Atiqul Islam on Wednesday laid the foundation stone of a foot overbridge adjacent to the East West University (EWU) at Aftabnagar in the capital.

This bridge will cross the busy main road and allow pedestrians, particularly students, to traverse it. It will connect Aftabnagar with the Merul Badda end of Hatirjheel.

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Marking the foundation ceremony, the East West University arranged a programme in its Manzur Elahi auditorium on Wednesday.

The 4 crore taka overbridge would be one of the most beautiful bridges, mayor Atiqul Islam said in his speech. He said that the bridge's construction would be finished in six months.

At the same time, he was entrusted with the maintenance of the bridge to East West University authority.

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To protect people from the risk of dengue fever, the mayor urged everyone to keep a watchful eye on the surroundings so that water does not accumulate anywhere during the rainy season.

EWU Board of Trustees Chairperson Syed Manzur Elahi and Chief Advisor Professor Dr Mohammed Farashuddin, EWU Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr M M Shahidul Hassan, the Chief Engineer of DNCC, and two Councillors of the area also spoke on the occasion.

Apart from teachers and students of the East West University, people of the locality were also present at the event. Later, the mayor planted a tree on the university premises and urged everyone to plant more trees to keep the city free from the heatwave.

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The foot overbridge is a long-cherished demand of the locality because of speeding vehicles on the busy main road of Rampura, which led to a number of accidents in the past. The East West University students have been urging for the bridge ever since the university moved to its main campus in Aftabnagar in 2014 from its Mohakhali campus.