Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's letter to Shirshendu Biswas, the Patuakhali fourth-grader who had written to her requesting for a bridge over the Payra river in Mirzaganj upazila of the district, was formally handed over to him yesterday.

"I sense the influence of your grandfather, a valiant freedom fighter, on you," the PM told the young boy in her reply mail, assuring him of taking steps to build a bridge over the river.

The PM also praised the boy for his awareness regarding his family's safety while crossing the river.

Shirshendu, the student of Patuakhali Government Jubilee High School, received the letter at a programme held at the school's auditorium from Patuakhali Deputy Commissioner AKM Shamimul Huq Siddique, who is also chairman of the school's executive committee.

Freedom fighter Abhinash Chandra Sonnamot, maternal grandfather of Shirshendu, Khan Mosharef Hossain, administrator of Patuakhali district council and Siddiqur Rahman, head teacher of the school, were present at the programme among others.

"The prime minister has replied to my letter and I'll never forget this incident for the rest of my life," said the young hero of the school whose maternal grandfather, a freedom fighter, is a hero of the nation.

Thanking the prime minister for her commitment over the bridge and for responding to Shirshendu's latter, Abhinash said he always feels proud as he had fought for the country during the Liberation War in 1971, and now his grandson has made him proud by writing to the PM, requesting her to build a bridge on the River Payra, to ease people's sufferings.

Patuakhali district council administrator Khan Mosharef Hossain announced a Tk 50,000 fund for Shirshendu's education while advocate Sultan Ahmed Mridha, former Sadar upazila chairman, added another Tk 10,000 fund for the same cause.

"My village home is in Jhalakathi and we have to cross the Payra river to go to my home ... The river has high waves ... Sometimes boats and trawlers sink in the river," Shirshendu wrote in the letter.

The letter from the prime minister was written on September 8 and reached the school on September 20, said sources at the school.

MINISTRY GETS PMO LETTER TO BUILD PAYRA BRIDGE: QUADER

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has already sent a letter to the ministry concerned to take necessary measures to construct a bridge on the Payra river in the southern Patuakhali district, reports BSS.

“The PMO has sent a letter to the ministry to construct a bridge on the Payra river following a letter of Shirshendu Biswas,” said Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader while inaugurating Gabtali-Sinnirtek road in the city's Mirpur area yesterday.

In line with the PM's assurance, Quader said the ministry has already started initial work and a team will visit Mirzaganj next week to initiate a feasibility study to this end.

“Since Payra is a wide and turbulent river, it will require a double-lane bridge and so, it will take time,” the minister said expressing the hope that the construction work of the bridge would begin by the next one and a half years.