Construction of eight footbridges uncertain
Pedestrians cross the busy GEC intersection in the port city risking their lives as there is no footbridge at this point. The picture was taken on Sunday.Photo: Zobaer Hossain Sikder
Construction of the footbridges at eight intersections in the port city has been hanging in the balance for over two years. Initiative to construct the bridges with the financial help of private organisations was taken by Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) in 2007 to ease traffic congestion and help smooth vehicular and pedestrians' movement. CCC through newspaper advertisements invited intended parties to construct the footbridges and use the bridges for advertisement purpose without paying any hoarding tax to CCC for 20 years. Two advertisement firms -- Sign Pro and Ad Valley -- responded to the CCC invitation positively expressing willingness to set up the eight footbridges at different intersections in the city. Sign Pro showed interest to construct three bridges at Bahodderhat, GEC and in front of Bangladesh Woman Association (BWA) School and College near Wasa intersection while the Ad Valley at Badamtali of Agrabdad, Dewanhat, Tigerpass, Muradpur intersections and in front of Colonel Hat Bazar. But, the footbridges could not be constructed yet due to indifference of the CCC itself. Uncertainty looms over the construction of footbridges now with one of the intended firms facing closure while the other has lost its interest. When contacted, Sign Pro Director Md Mujibur Rahman told The Daily Star that one year has already elapsed since submission of estimate and designs of the over bridges to the CCC without any response. Mujibur said they requested the CCC to remove the electricity, telephone and internet wires and underground gas pipeline from the proposed sites for the bridges. But, nothing has been done till date, he said, adding that approximate cost for each bridge was at around Tk 1 crore and agreed to spend money for the sake of public movement. He, however, it is now impossible for the Sign Pro to proceed with the project as the firm is now closed over ownership dispute. On the other hand, Ad Valley Proprietor Mohiuddin Bachchu said his firm is yet to get any response after submitting the estimate and design for CCC approval. He said it is not possible now to set up the bridges with the previous estimated cost made on the then market price of construction materials and the estimate needs to be revised now. In this regard, CCC Revenue Officer (RO) Mohammad Shamsul Alam said they sent the file to the engineering department for approval of the design and other related matters around one year ago. The firms can start work after engineering department's approval. When asked, CCC Chief Engineer Mohammad Nizam Uddin denied receipt of any file in this regard from the revenue section. Nizam refused to talk when he was told that the file is now lying at his office. There are only five footbridges at Darul Fazal Market, Reazuddin Bazar, Fakirhat and Chittagong Export Processing Zone (CEPZ). Three bridges are unusable as floating people have occupied those when the pedestrians ran risk of falling easy prey to accident while crossing the road and suffered a lot due to gridlocks.
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