Hatirjheel project likely to be completed by Dec next year

12 June 2010, 18:00 PM

Bss, Dhaka

To protect the city from floods and storm waters, development work is going on in full swing for the integrated development of the Hatirjheel area that includes the Begunbari canal. Sources said the project is likely to be completed by December next year. Rajdhani Unnayan Kartipakkha (Rajuk) has taken up the work for overall development in and around the area, considering its strategic importance in waste water management of the city, a long-standing problem in the metropolis. “On completion of the project, it will be opened to traffic through its 9.8 kilometer road, which will have a width of 78 feet and connect the city's Rampura with the Tongi Diversion Road, both in the west and east side of the project that includes one expressway, a serviceable road and a walkway”, Project Director Engineer Raihanul Ferdous told BSS. The main objective of the project is to develop the low-lying areas located between Hatirjheel and Bagunbari canal through re-excavation of the only canal that has managed to survive, while many other canals have already disappeared. The project covers 300 acres of low-lying land, in and around the Airport Road, near Sonargaon Hotel to Rampura Bridge, and is being developed at a cost of Tk 1,480 crore, jointly by Rajuk, Dhaka Water and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) and the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED). The Special Works' Organisation (SWO) of the Bangladesh Army is carrying out the construction work. As compensation for land acquisition in the project site, Rajuk has paid Tk 488 crore to the private land owners for 132 acres of land and another Tk 262 crore has been deposited to the government's exchequer for 81 acres that belong to the Court of Wards or are khas (government-owned) land. However, the total value of the government land, there, is 344 crore and the balance will be paid after Rajuk gets the fourth installment of its allocated money from the Annual Development Programme (ADP) in the current budget. Earlier, Rajuk had paid Tk 32 crore to the private land owners for acquisition of 80 acres of land in the project area. Since the beginning of the construction work, Rajuk had demolished 30 unauthorised installations, out of 40, and the rest remained intact due to court injunctions, as the land owners had filed writ petitions with the High Court. Under the project design, construction of 2.25 kilometers, out of 8.80 kilometers road, has been completed along with the main diversion sewage line, while the rest of the work will be completed in the next dry season. So far, earth work and sand mixed brick filling of 9.8 kilometers of the road has been completed and work on only 320-meter remain incomplete, as Rajuk is yet to acquire the land. In the project site, there are five unauthorised mosques and a Khanka sharif. Efforts are underway to relocate them. As of now, the land owners in the project site have filed 80 writ petitions with the High Court against land acquisition. They also want their houses back and changes in the plan of Hatirjheel project.