DNCC to build multi-storey truck terminal in Tejgaon

Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mayor Md Atiqul Islam yesterday announced the plan of constructing a multi-purpose truck terminal at Tejgaon to accommodate all trucks at the area and keep roads truck-free.  

Atiqul made the announcement while visiting the current terminal and meeting with leaders of truck owners' association.

"I have directed DNCC officials concerned to submit a proposal to Bangladesh Railway for getting around 21 bighas of land from the transport agency and forming a project to construct a multi-purpose truck terminal," he said.

As the number of trucks has been increasing day by day, the new multi-storey terminal will be a permanent solution, he claimed.

Around 2,000 trucks would be able to park at the multi-purpose terminal simultaneously, and around 5,000 trucks would be able to use it every day, he added.

Atiqul said floors of the new structure may be both under and above the ground, and the terminal will not be for inter-district trucks.

Hossain Ahmed Majumdar, joint secretary-1 of Bangladesh Covered-van Owners Association, told The Daily Star that there were 39 bighas of land at the area, and a large part of the land was occupied.

He said railway land acted as truck stands since 1948. Late DNCC mayor Annisul Huq had gotten charge from four ministries to clear all occupants from the current terminal and increase its accommodation capacity.

Former railways minister Mujibul Haque had asked truck owners to use the land as long as it is not being used by Bangladesh Railway. He also asked them not to construct any structure on the land.

Hossain said they spent around Tk 3 crore for the terminal's renovation, after it was recognised as a terminal during mayor Annisul's tenure.

About the terminal's capacity, he said currently, around 700-800 trucks can park there at a time, and it is possible to keep 5,000-7,000 trucks simultaneously, if some adjoining railway land was provided by evicting existing occupants.

Hossain said a truck stand is essential at the area because of important establishments like BG Press, Central Medicine Store and Karwan Bazar wholesale kitchen market.

Mohammad Nazrul Islam, divisional estate officer and deputy commissioner (railway lands and buildings) of Bangladesh Railway, a few months back told The Daily Star that around eight acres of railway land is being used illegally for the truck stand.

For decades, an illegal truck stand occupied Satrasta, where trucks, pick-ups and covered vans would block both sides of the road, and there was virtually no walkway.

In face of strong opposition from influential transport leaders, no one dared to remove the illegal stand. But things changed for the better after late DNCC mayor Annisul Huq removed it, despite coming under huge pressure.

The renovated Tejgaon-Satrasta road had soon become an embodiment of the late mayor's tireless efforts to ease the city's unbearable traffic congestion. But the road, named after Annisul after his death in 2017, is now facing the same problem, due to absence of any visible action from authorities concerned for a sustainable parking solution that Annisul had pledged.