Roads along banks of Hatirjheel-Begunbari canal may open by July

An under-construction road along Hatirjheel-Begunbari canal near Sonargaon Hotel in the capital. The road is expected to be opened to public by July next year.Photo: Anisur Rahman

The long-awaited roads along the banks of Hatirjheel-Begunbari canal are likely to be open to the public by July next year.
To be laid on embankments on either side of the canal, the 10-km long and 60-foot wide twin roads will start at Panthapath, and then cross Tongi Diversion Road to run till Rampura Road.
Along the way, they will link the others roads in the area through three bridges.
Around 1.7 kms of embankment has already been raised while the rest is expected to be built by the middle of 2009.
The construction is part of a Tk 1473.58 crore Hatirjheel-Begunbari development project undertaken to ease water-logging and traffic congestion in the city.
Professor Mujibur Rahman of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet), who is overseeing the technical aspects, said though the embankment roads might be opened for public use by July, they will take till June 2010 to be completed along with the other work of the project.
Besides constructing roads, bridges and footpath, the project entails freeing the Begunbari canal from illegal structures, getting back the depth of the waterbody and building a sewerage system centring it.
The project involves 300 acres of land and of that, 50 to 60 acres will be used for the roads, Professor Mujibur said.
The three cross bridges will be constructed near the Tongi Diversion Road, in between Tongi and Rampura roads and near Rampura Road, he continued.
Already 46 acres of land is being dug up while 204 more acres will soon come under excavation so the natural reservoir regains its holding capacity, said Mujibur.
The excavation also aims to remove toxic and solid waste off the canal bed to ensure the water is cleaner and purer, he said.
An official of the Water and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) said pipes would be set up along the roads to carry off the industrial waste to a treatment plant planned to be built at Beriath.
Mujibur said planning and designing of the Wasa sewer systems for Hatirjheel-Begunbari are nearing completion and the field level work will begin in the next dry season.
A survey to assess the cost of acquiring land and structures for the project has been in full swing and is likely to be completed this month, said an official of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk).
Sources said over 300 acres of land would have to be reclaimed to implement the project. Of that, 129 acres are private land.
Rajuk has already demolished a good number of illegal structures. But BGMEA Bhaban and a CNG filling station opposite FDC, and 150 more structures on the west of Rampura Bridge are still out of the purview of demolition drive due to legal complications, said the official.
Mujibur Rahman said as the BGMEA Bhaban stands in the middle of the canal, it will obstruct the flow of stormwater.
"It will also reduce the canal's capacity of water retention," he observed.
Housing and Public Works Secretary ASM Rashidul Hai said he does not know whether the building will be knocked down or not. He said he also does not know anything about when the government will decide on the matter.
The executive committee of the National Economic Council approved the project on October 8 last year. Of the cost, the government will finance Tk 1,323 crore while the rest is expected from the Japan Development Cooperation Fund.
Of the amount, Tk 101 crore will be used for land acquisition, Tk 40.80 crore for construction of storm sewerage lines, Tk 18 crore for pipe drains, Tk 55 crore for the roads, Tk 20.58 crore for silt disposal and Tk 51 crore will be spent on beautification up to Rampura Bridge.