CCC to construct six more foot overbridges
Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) will construct six more foot overbridges in the busy areas to check intolerable gridlock as well as to facilitate the smooth movement of pedestrians in the port city.
The CCC will invite tenders through newspapers from the interested private firms in this regard, sources said.
The overbridges will be set up at Agrabad Bandamtali intersection, Dewanhat intersection, in front of Bangladesh Women Association (BaWA) School, GEC Moor, Bahodderhat intersection and Colonel Hat Bazar according to the design of the CCC planners.
City dwellers have long been demanding to set up foot overbridges at different city points while there are only three overbridges in New Market, Reazuddin Bazar and Fakirhat areas set up by CCC long ago.
Chittagong Export Processing Zone (CEPZ) authorities built two spacious overbridges in CEPZ gate area last year that help thousands of workers cross the busy intersection.
Pedestrians suffer most when they cross the busy highways risking serious mishaps.
Several people died and were injured in road accidents in these points on different occasions.
Intolerable gridlock due to abrupt crossing of the pedestrians usually hinders the smooth ply of vehicles during the office hours everyday.
Shilpa Das, a garment worker, said she was about to fall victim to accident while crossing the Bahodderhat intersection but narrowly escaped.
Israt Jahan, an SSC examinee from the BaWA School, said the students face serious problem everyday while cross the highway on the way to the school for lack of a overbridge.
Israt's father KBM Ismail Chowdhury Hossain, also an assistant vice-president of Dhaka Bank, urged the authorities concerned to ensure security and maintain proper environment on the proposed foot overbridges for the pedestrians as the existing ones are safe haven for the criminals, including drug peddlers and vagabonds.
The overbridges in New Market, Reazuddin Bazar and Fakirhat areas are not very popular among the pedestrians as both the sides are covered with hoardings, making safe haven for the criminals, drug peddlers and hanging out of vagabonds, Ismail said.
In this regard, AKM Rezaul Karim, head of CCC Architecture and City Planning Department, said according to the primary design no commercial display or signboard will be allowed on the railings of the overbridges in order to avert unsocial activities or crimes over there.
He said hoardings will be allowed 5 feet 6 inches above the floor of the bridges so that they can not cover both the sides.
The private firms will prepare the final design of the overbridges according to the draft conceptual plan and design of the CCC engineers and architectures, he added.
The firms concerned will bear the total costs for building and maintaining the bridges while the CCC executive engineer will supervise the construction work, sources said.
The proposed overbridges will be 18 feet high so that container carriers or double-decker buses can pass easily, sources added.
Earlier, CCC published advertisement a few months ago inviting tenders in this regard.
Three private firms applied for the work. But they did not get the work for failure to follow the CCC design, keeping space for the display of commercial signboards above the railings, sources said.
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