Slow work causes 2-year delay

A shot of the Hatirjheel project, which is expected to be completed in December next, nearly two years behind schedule. Photo: Sk Enamul Haq

The long-awaited Begunbari-Hatirjheel development project is expected to be completed by this December, two years behind schedule.
A portion of the road from Sonargaon Hotel to Tongi Diversion and Tongi Diversion to Rampura Bridge under the project will be opened to the public by January end or the first week of February, project director Colonel Abu Sayed Mohammad Masud said.
About 70 percent of the project work on 299.24 acres of land has been completed including 10-km embankment along Begunbari and Hatirjheel canals, road dividers and footpaths, he said. The rest would be done by December this year, he added, indicating that the project deadline needs to be extended for the second time.
The project, under the 16 Engineering Construction Battalion of the army, was scheduled to be completed by December 2010. Then the time was extended for a year until December 2011.
The authority failed to start the construction work before 2010 as it had taken two years to complete the land acquisition and the project design, Masud said.
He said the ongoing construction of 10 bridges under the project would be completed by next four to five months.
On the south portion of the project, a two-way road from Sonargaon Hotel to Tongi Diversion along Begunbari canal is connected to Dilu Road.
The project also has a road network from Tongi Diversion to Rampura Bridge along Hatirjheel canal, which is comprised of a one-way express road with a two-way side road. A two-lane expressway goes from Tongi Diversion via Gulshan to Pragati Sarani.
The north portion of the road under the project goes from Begunbari power house via Kunipara and Gulshan-1 to Merul Badda.
After the project work is finished, the traffic situation in Moghbazar, Madhubagh, Ulan, Mohanagar, Daserpara, Rampura, Merul Badda, Gulshan, Tejgaon and Begunbari will improve, said the project director.
Traffic can move to Gulshan or Pragati Sarani from Tongi Diversion Road directly through the expressway, said another official of the project. The locality roads will be connected to the two-lane side road.
There will be some exits and entrances through which vehicles will be able to move from the side road to the expressway and vice versa.
The main objectives of the project are to improve the drainage system, connect the east with the west part of the city, build a proper sewerage, and construct walkways and roads around Hatirjheel and Begunbari canals to improve communication and reduce traffic jam.