Dredging, waste removal of city rivers to end by 2011
Removal of waste and dredging of four rivers around Dhaka city will be complete within 2011.
Authorities have fixed a target of removing 4.8 million cubic feet of waste from the rivers -- Buriganga, Turag, Balu and Shitalakkhya -- within the period.
Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan told the news agency that the cleaning of waste from an area of 1.6 kilometres of the Buriganga from Kamrangirchar to Kholamora has already been completed.
The assigned private company, Reza Construction, started dredging in the area from October 25.
The minister said sufficient number of waterbuses would be put to service after restoring navigability in the rivers around Dhaka by 2012. This will help ease traffic jam in the city.
During the cleaning and dredging of the rivers, water would be supplied by creating alternate streams from Jamuna River.
Under a project of Water Development Board, a 22-kilometre waterway would be excavated from Sirajganj hard point of Jamuna Bridge to Nalini Bazar of Dhaleswari River.
This river linking project would be implemented with a US $ 100 million assistance from Qatar, the minister said and added that implementation of the project will create a clean Buriganga and make the river pollution free.
About the mega plan to dredge 53 rivers, the shipping minister said a Tk 11,000-crore project is under consideration of the Planning Commission for the purpose.
Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) Chairman Abdul Malek Mian said the removal of waste from the rivers around Dhaka is going on.
After the waste is removed, four private companies will start dredging the Buriganga and Turag. Reza Construction has already started the job, he added.
Walls will be erected to demarcate the river borders, walkways will be constructed and trees will be planted along the riverbanks under the programme.
Malek said his organisation would start working in full swing with 10 dredgers with the beginning of 2011 to keep the country's waterways operational.
He said the tender process for procuring world famous waste lifting equipment 'Excovenza 2000' will end by January 2011. Those would be added to the BIWTA dredger fleet within one year after giving the work order.
BIWTA Executive Engineer Raqibul Hassan Talukder said a total of 3,277 kilometres of waterways would be dredged in the first four phases of the dredging programme.
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