Own Correspondent: Cda Flyover an extra barden on people . During the tenure of former chairman Abdus Salam, CDA created DPP with inefficient and incompetent engineers with the concept of constructing flyover roads in the city. During his tenure no competent engineer was appointed PD of the project for mysterious reasons. He appointed all Assistant Engineers as PDs as per his wish. As a result, the projects could not be completed within the project period due to slow progress.
The projects during his tenure are – Chittagong Outer Ring Road Project-2, Elevated Expressway Project, Baklia Access Road Project, Road Construction Project along Karnaphuli River from Kalurghat Bridge to Chaktai Canal, Preparation of Chittagong Metropolitan Master Plan (2020-2041) Project, Construction of CDA Square at Nasirabad Project, Construction of Link Road from Dhaka Trunk Road to Bayezid Bostami Road, Construction of 10 Storey Apartment Complex with One Semi Basement at Dewan Hat (1st Revised) Project, Bangmata Sheikh Fazilatunnecha Mujib Road – Outside Asian University for Women : Link road construction project from Dhaka trunk road to Bayezid Bostami road with construction of loop road through the border.
Designation of the Project Managers of the mentioned projects is Assistant Engineer. Basically, the rule for appointing PDs for these projects is executive engineers with more than 10 years of experience. But instead of doing that, the authorities are implementing all the projects through contractors. As a result, there is an increase in cost and time in every project. Also, according to the Delegation of Financial Order, Assistant Engineers cannot implement projects worth thousands of crores of rupees.
The recently departed chairman Zahirul Alam Dovas did not properly supervise the work of the projects in 5 years, so the Luthera syndicate shared the money of government development projects as per their wish. Some of the PDs of these projects are accused in 7/8 ACC cases. Their reign is going on in CDA for 15 years. The newly joined freedom fighter Mohammad Yunus is also moving in that direction. He has already promoted one robber.
Lack of planning, short-sightedness and lack of coordination have become the main features of the important project of Chittagong metropolis, Elevated Expressway. Now you have to pay the price. There was no discussion with the city planners before taking up this project of about 4 thousand 300 crore rupees. Opinions were not taken with any service organizations including Chasik, Port Authority, Traffic Police of CMP. Due to this, the projects are now being hindered step by step. In the face of objections from various organizations, the design of the project has to be changed 8 times.
It was said that the length of the expressway towards the airport will be 16.5 km. Now it has reduced by more than 100 km. In the initial survey there were 20 ramps, but now there are 14. The total length of the ramp is estimated to be 12 km, but only half of it is actually there. Due to so many changes before launch, the cost has also increased. The project which started with a cost of Tk 3 thousand 250 crore has now cost Tk 4 thousand 299 crore.
Due to repeated design changes, the project implementation time has also been delayed. This expressway from the city’s Lalkhanbazar to the airport was supposed to be launched in June 2020. Later it was changed to June 2024. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also inaugurated it on November 14 last year. But Chittagong Development Authority (CDA) has not yet opened it for vehicular traffic. Even if the main infrastructure work is completed, the project will have to wait at least one and a half to two years after completing the work of all the ramps.
In July 2017, the 15 km long flyover road project from Lalkhanbazar in Chittagong city to Patenga was approved by the National Economic Council Executive Committee (ECNEC) meeting. CDA started working after that.
CDA has never taken anyone’s opinion before implementing any project. They also did not take the advice of city planners. Stakeholders’ opinions were not taken. All the work here has been done according to the wishes of former chairman Abdus Salam. Now it has to pay for it in every post.
In this regard, CDA Acting Chief Engineer (Executive Engineer) could not be contacted as his phone was switched off.
Project Director and Assistant Engineer of CDA Mahfuzur Rahman said, “The feasibility study was done before the project started. A coordination meeting was held in the city corporation during the time of the former mayor. Still, Ports, Customs and Traffic Departments have raised objections at various stages. We have also taken their objection into consideration. For this, the design has to be changed several times. Objections of various organizations Since the start of work, the project has faced objections from various service organizations. From the beginning, various complications arise with the implementation of the project.
According to sources, initially the project area was divided into four parts. Initially, the work could not be started in all three parts due to the obstruction of the Chittagong Port Authority, Police Traffic Department. Only the five and a half kilometer stretch from Patenga to the cement crossing is being worked on. The construction of the three-and-a-half-kilometer sections from Cement Crossing to Saltgola, three kilometers from Saltgola to Barik Building Junction and two kilometers from Barik Building Junction to Dewanhat was stopped for a long time due to the objections of the traffic department of the police. Traffic Department of Police raised objections when Chittagong Outer Ring Road and Agrabad Access Road were opened. After that CDA started working on these two parts.
But along the road from Saltgola to Barik Building there are various structures including port jetties. The port authorities objected to the construction of the elevated expressway, fearing that it would pose a safety risk. Several rounds of meetings were held between the port and CDA with the representatives of the Ministry of Housing and Public Works regarding the new location in this part. Later it was decided to go outside the main road and construct the expressway. But in this case, complications arise in land acquisition and establishment compensation.
Chittagong Port Authority set 6 conditions to CDA in a meeting in February 2022 to solve the problem. According to the conditions, it was decided to construct the elevated expressway on the main road from Barrick Building to Customs. This includes ensuring four lanes with two lanes on both sides outside the enclosure during construction. And after the construction work, there should be three lanes each. After solving these complications, the work on that part started. After this, the CDA faced a new obstacle due to the objection of the City Corporation.
Chasik’s Chief Executive Officer Kazi Muhammad Mozammel Haque mentioned in an objection letter signed in June 2022 that it is known that a flyover will be constructed on the road from Tigerpass to Lalkhanbazar to connect the Aktaruzzaman flyover with the under-construction elevated expressway. There are two very beautiful natural hills on both sides of the road. If the flyover is constructed, the people will be deprived of the scenic view. In public interest, it is requested to make the junction of the two flyovers at ground level instead of constructing a flyover in this section.
Apart from this, due to construction of ramp for Aktaruzzaman flyover, the existing roadway below has been narrowed. Traffic is being disrupted. As a result, Chasik requested not to build a new ramp. After accepting their demand, CDA made another round of changes in the design.
Ramps of the 16-and-a-half-km-long elevated expressway were to be laid in seven areas. These are Wasa, Lalkhanbazar, Tigerpass, Agrabad, Barek Buildi, Cement Crossing/KEPZ and Kathgarh. The total length of the ramp was supposed to be 12 km and width 5.5 meters. But now the length of the expressway is 15.11 km. And the width is 6.8 meters. 14 ramps are being constructed. The average length of each ramp is 5.06 km. Initially, the expressway was supposed to be connected with the main flyover of Lalkhanbazar. However, it was not done later because the building had to be demolished. A portion of the expressway has now been brought down in front of Lalkhan Bazar Magistrate Colony.
At the request of the port, the ramp was lowered at Fakirhat. Four ramps were relocated at the request of Navy, CEPZ and KEPZ. Elevated expressway was connected with the tunnel in response to the proposal of the bridge authority. Due to this, the length of the expressway has decreased by about 1.3 km.
