Chittagong City Ring Road project
Implementation to start by year-end
With the government emphasising development of Chittagong, preparation is nearing completion for implementation of the Chittagong City Ring Road project involving around Tk 10,000 crore with the financial assistance of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). A JICA appraisal team is likely to arrive in the port city this month to discuss different aspects, including loan conditions, and finalise an agreement for the first phase of the construction of the road at an approximate cost of Tk 2000 crore. JICA is expected to sign an agreement with the government for the first phase of work by the end of this year, said the sources at Chittagong Development Authority (CDA), implementing agency of the project. State Minister for Housing and Public Works Advocate Abdul Mannan Khan at a workshop here on May 23 said the government would take steps soon for implementing the outer ring road. He also assured of taking steps for rehabilitation and compensation the affected people due to implementation of the project. Addressing the workshop Mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury also urged the government to start work of the outer ring road project soon to get better service from Chittagong Port. JICA engaged resettlement specialist Dr Hafija Khatun at the workshop on 'Rehabilitation of the affected people due to implementation of outer ring road and land acquisition” said around 2,239 families might be affected for implementing the project in the first phase. Sources said a 14.702km road stretching from Patenga to Sagorika would be constructed in the first phase under the Coastal Road Project, one of the three major components of the Chittagong City Ring Road Project. Three feeder roads of 6.891km would also be constructed to complete the missing links with internal roads of the city in the first phase of the project, sources said. Implementation period of the Coastal Road Project is five years, including three years for construction. Construction work is to start in 2011 to be completed by 2013, they said. JICA would provide funds as soft loan for construction of the Ring Road diverting the city centre while the government would have to bear the land acquisition and rehabilitation costs that would be 20 to 25 per cent of the total project cost, sources said. The appraisal team will arrive here following the report submitted by a five-member JICA team that visited Bangladesh on a two-week fact finding mission on April 11. The JICA team discussed the final report on the first phase. “We are now doing some fact finding work and providing information responding to queries of JICA,” said Project Director Kazi Hasan Bin Shams, the superintendent engineer 1 of CDA. Earlier, JICA appointed Special Assistance for Project Formulation (SAPROF) team carried a study and submitted final report on Coastal Road Project on March 19. The draft final report of the SAPROF study also provided outlines for Karnaphuli River Road and Flood Protection Project and Chittagong Bypass and Road Construction Project, two other components of Chittagong City Ring Road Project to be implemented in the second and the third phase. Under Karnaphuli River Road and Flood Protection Project a 13.02km long four lane Karnaphuli River Road would be constructed along the river Karnaphuli stretching from Sadarghat to Kalurghat bridge. Chittagong Bypass and Road Construction Project would include construction of the 4th Karnaphuli bridge on the upstream and a road linking the bridge with Oxygen-Quish road and Kalurghat bridge. To assist in overall development of infrastructure and road network under a private sector infrastructure investment project Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), which merged with JICA in October last year, carried out a feasibility study in two phases in 2005 and 2006. Following the study, JBIC signed an agreement with the Economic Relation Department (ERD) in 2007 to develop Chittagong City Ring Road project titled “Multi-sector infrastructure development in Chittagong.”
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