10 U-loops by Dec: Atiqul

Dhaka North City Corporation mayor Atiqul Islam yesterday said construction works of 10 U-loops -- stretching from Tejgaon to Uttara -- will be finished by December.

The mayor made the comment while visiting the sites to observe the progress of the project.

He said earlier, traffic congestion in front of Rajlakhsmi and Jasim Uddin Road in Uttara was a regular occurrence, but after a U-loop was opened, commuters are now getting benefited.

He said though the initiative to construct the U-loops was taken by late mayor Annisul Huq in 2016, the work got stuck after his death.

Atiqul said he had a commitment to implement all the initiatives of the late mayor and after assuming office in his first term, this became one of the priority projects for him.

He said there were several obstacles relating to land-related complications and some other issues, but they have overcome those. "We had to purchase land of the Roads and Highways Department, which turned out to be a time consuming process," he said.

After completion of the project, people -- traveling from Tejgaon to Uttara -- will be able to save plenty of commuting time.

DNCC initially took the decision to build 22 U-shaped loops along a 36-kilometre stretch of Dhaka-Gazipur Road to ease traffic congestion. A feasibility study was carried out at the time, and the number was brought down to 11 as Ashulia and Gazipur are under other administrations.

Mayor Atiqul said they will also conduct a drive against cables set up haphazardly from October 1. He said they gave the operators till September 30 to shift the illegal wires. The mayor said they will also conduct drives against illegal posters, banners and advertisement boards.

Among others, Chief Executive Officer of DNCC Abdul Hai and chief engineer Brig Gen Amirul Islam accompanied the mayor during the visit.