Land acquisition finally completes next week

The Begunbari-Hatirjheel project is set to gain pace with the completion of the stalled land acquisition process by next week, say project officials.
Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) officials told The Daily Star Friday that they expect to get the land required for the project as they have received the long-awaited cost estimate from the Deputy Commissioner's (DC) office.
"We on Thursday got the estimate, made by the Deputy Commissioner's office worth Tk 489 crore to get 139 acres of private land under the project," said a Rajuk official.
He said although Rajuk has 60 days to pay the DC office for the land, it would give the money this week. Projects are usually cancelled if the DC office is not paid within 60 days of getting the estimate.
Public works ministry sources said state minister Abdul Mannan Khan has asked authorities concerned to complete the land acquisition by April 7. The public works ministry will also host a meeting with agencies concerned on April 7 to review the project.
Due to delays in acquiring land, only three kilometres out of the 11 kilometres of road/embankment has been constructed since the project started in February, 2008.
Officially titled "Integrated Development of Hatirjheel area, including Begunbari Khal", the project is scheduled to complete by June 2010.
State Minister Abdul Mannan told The Daily Star that the project would be completed in time despite delays in the land acquisition process.
Prof Mujibur Rahman of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet), leader of the team that conducted the feasibility study of the project, said the delays in land acquisition slowed down the project significantly.
"The progress of work is very slow as we have not got the land yet," he said.
Mujibur hoped that they would get the land by April and they would try to complete the road/embankment within the next three months.
Out of 299.24 acres of land needed for the project, 139 acres are under private ownership, said a Rajuk official. Another 79 acres of state-owned khas land and Courts of Awards land would also need to be acquired. The rest would be acquired from different government organisations.
Mujibur said one of the main components of the project, a Tk 500 crore waste-treatment plant at Daserkandi, would be hampered due to delays in evaluating the project proposal. The proposal has not been placed before the Proposal Evaluation Committee even though it was scheduled to start in July, 2008.
The waste-treatment plant project is scheduled to complete by June 2012.
The main objectives of the Tk 1480.98 crore Begunbari-Hatirjheel project include retention of rainwater to reduce water-logging, flood protection, wastewater disposal, construction of walkways and roads around Hatirjheel to improve communication and reduce traffic congestion.