Rajuk, Chinese firm sign MoU for Dhaka elevated highway

Rajuk yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding with a Chinese construction company to build a 13km elevated highway connecting the capital's Shantinagar with Jheelmil residential area in Keranganj across Buriganga.

The Chittagong Development Authority also signed a similar MoU with China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (CRCC) to construct 18km extension of the Bahaddarhat flyover to connect Lalkhan Bazar with the airport in Chittagong.

The proposed Shantinagar-Jheelmil flyover would not only help ease traffic in the capital city, but also link the Padma Bridge with the capital, said GM Jainal Abedin Bhuiya, chairman of Rajdhani Unnyan Kartripakkha (Rajuk).

Without any idea about when the construction of the elevated highway would start, Bhuiya said the immediate next phase of it is to carry out the feasibility study to determine funding and tendering of the flyover.

A great advantage in building the flyover is that it would not require acquisition of any private land as it would be built along the existing road and go above the Babubazar Buriganga Bridge across the river, he said.   

Md Abdur Rahman, Rajuk board member for development, and Hu Fan, CRCC vice president, signed the MoU. Jasim Uddin, chief engineer at Chittagong Development Authority, signed for extension of Bahaddarhat flyover.        

Abdus Salam, chairman of Chittagong Development Authority, was present among other high officials.    

Earlier, the MoUs were scheduled for signing on August 10 in presence of the Housing and Public Works minister Mosharraf Hossain at the Bangladesh Secretariat. It, however, was deferred, as the MoU drafts had "some flaws", said officials.    

The CRCC is a leading state-owned construction and engineering enterprise of China.