Karnaphuli tunnel to unlock trade potential

The under construction Karnaphuli River tunnel is going to represent a watershed in the lives of people in the port city who has long been dreaming to connect to the southern part of the ‘S’-shaped river.

The river Karnaphuli separates residents of Anwara and adjoining Karnphuli, Patiya and Boalkhali upazilas from the city centre of Chattogram.

A mega construction of new roads, approach roads, industries and tourism facilities are on their triumphant march centering the much-hyped Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel aiming to transform the landscape of the port city.

The Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) says the tunnel will connect Anwara with the port city and reduce 50-kilometre distance from the capital Dhaka and 15-kilometre from Chattogram to tourism capital Cox’s Bazar.

It will connect Anwara to Patenga near Shah Amanat International Airport and Chattogram Port in the metropolis as well.

The government plans to expand the port city on both sides of the river as “One City,Two-Town Model”much like Shanghai in China.

Engineer Subash Barua, vice-president, Forum for Planned Chattogram, a watchdog of the city development, termed the development of a planned city in Anwara-Karnaphuli area instrumental as it would reap a maximum benefit from the southern part of Karnphuli River by utilising the tunnel that would facilitate mobility as well connectivity.

According to Karnaphuli Tunnel Project Director Harunur Rashid, as part of the government priority project, the tunnel construction is going on even in the midst of the raging pandemic and it will give the port city a new look.

“Yet we cannot say for sure that the project will be completed at its stipulated time,” he said.

The 3,400-metre-long tunnel project is being constructed at a cost of around Tk 10,000 crore which will be open to public and vehicles by December 2022.

The underground passageway is a significant part of the world longest Super Marine Drive from Mirsrai to Teknaf and Asian Highway connecting Chttogram port and Matarbari deep seaport.

Quizzed about the development spree centring the tunnel, Karnaphuli Upazila Nirbahi Officer Sahina Sultana said dozens of industries with local and foreign investments are under development.  

“There are at least 75 small and large factories including garments, ship building, edible oil, fish processing, steel and cement are in Karnaphuli area. The construction of new ones will create an industrial boom,” she said.

“Land prices are so dear that it has become difficult to get land for government projects.The development in the vicinity has shot up the land price manifold.”

An Anwara resident Abul Munsur said he sold a piece of eight-decimal land near the approach road of the tunnel 10 times its purchase value.

The tunnel feasibility study report said the economy on the south bank of Karnaphuli River is currently dependent on agriculture. Around 47 percent of land is used for agriculture while only 2 percent for industry. After the tunnel is open, some 27 percent of the entire area will have possibility to be acquired for industrial development, the study added.

A new city in the offing on southern Karnaphuli

With the construction of the tunnel, Anwara-Karnaphuli area will take a new look. From the Anwara intersection of the tunnel and from the area adjacent to Parki sea beach to Shah Amanat Bridge under the Karnaphuli upazila area, a 12-kilometre-long area along the bank of Karnaphuli River witnesses a series of construction work by government, private and foreign agencies.

Among the government agencies, the Roads and Highways Department is constructing an 11-kilometre six-lane connecting road from the tunnel to the Chattogram-Cox’s Bazar Highway.

The Chinese Economic Zone in Anwara is under construction which is the first specialised Government-to-Government economic zone in the country with a cumulative area of 781 acres and which is likely to create around 2,00,000 jobs.

Over 60 enterprises from home and abroad have already expressed their interest to invest nearly $280 million in the economic zone, according to the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority.

The government agency said Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC) is building a new tourism centre at Parki sea beach under Anwara which will become the new tourism hotspot.

“Here will grow the biggest tourism complex accommodating hotel, motel, swimming pool, a recreational centre and the like,”said Ziaul Huq Hawladar, BPC sales manager.

When the tunnel will be open, the picturesque sandy Parki ‍sea beach will be the most attractive tourist spot in the country, he added.

According to the report, the feasibility study of the tunnel has been carried out, quoting the existing master plan for Chattogram.

It said there is an opportunity to transform 1,700 acres of land in Parki area for tourism purposes.

Anwara has already become the main off-shore transmission point of imported gas to supply imported Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) for the national grid. The department under the energy and mineral resource ministry has constructed a 91-kilometre gas pipeline from Moheskhali to Anwara for smooth transmission of imported LNG through Floating Storage and Regasification Unit terminal.

The upazila administration sources said a private sector power plant and a special economic zone on shipbuilding are being built at the mouth of Shangu River. An all-out development is taking place centring the construction of tunnel that will add value to the lives and livelihoods of the port city residents.

Experts said it is high time that direct port facilities be ensured to draw new investment from many a new billionaire, the number of which has grown a lot during the pandemic. Deputy General Manager of Korean Export Processing Zone Authority Mushfiqur Rahman said investors need direct port facilities.

“We offered Chattogram Port Authority to build jetties for ocean going ships in Karnphuli River near Marine Academy so that we can ship our products easily,” headded. The proposal is now under process, said a source.

Korean Export Processing Zone is a South Korean enterprise established by Young One Corporation in 1999 that has employed 26,000 workers in its 26 factories while 21 factories more are in the process to go for production that will hire some 1,00,000 people.

The feasibility study report on the tunnel mentioned that at present Chattogram city accounts for 6,055 acres of industrial area out of which 5,188 acres or 86 per cent belong to the north bank of Karnaphuli River while only 867 acres or 14 per cent to the south bank area.

As the tunnel is open, the industrial area on the south bank will be more than 70 percent as there will be an opportunity to set up industries on 12,334 acres of land. The study assumed a base 6 per cent GDP growth, which would increase by 0.166 per cent to a total of 6.166 per cent over the next 50 years once the tunnel is open.

A city plan is under way

The industrial hub Chattogram stands on the north side of Karnaphuli River that generates 40 percent of industrial production which is the gateway to 80 percent of international trade and 50 percent of revenue collection.

With an almost 2.25 percent yearly average urban population growth, the city will be a home to seven million people by 2035, according to the United Nations Urbanisation Prospect report 2018.   

The Chattogram Development Authority says the government initiative to expand the city on both sides of Karnaphuli River is going to be reflected in the coming third Master Plan for the port city. Asked about it, CDA Chief Engineer Kazi Hasan Shams maintained that the third master plan will cover an area of 1,135-square kilometre up to Sangu River, south of Karnaphuli-Anwara upazila. 

The authority will soon appoint a consultant to prepare the master plan within 2-3 years.

Earlier, two master plans were prepared in 1961 and 1995, but they did not see the light of implementation for reasons unknown.

In a JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) survey report in 2014, Chattogram is one of the fastest growing cities in the world and a commercial as well as an industrial hub in the South Asia region with a GDP of $25 billion.

Neighboring countries have long been looking to the port city as a future regional transit hub. Initiatives for implementation of the development plan are the order of the day in the best interest of regional prosperity.

Some 13.9 million vehicles are expected to run annually through the tunnel by 2030, 32.9 million by 2050 and 50.5 million by 2062, according to an analysis of the feasibility.

Of the total transport, 50 per cent will be goods-carrying trucks.

Subash Barua said the implementation of the plan is badly needed for both sides of Karnaphuli River including one for Coxs Bazar as the subterranean passage aims to connect deep seaport and several economic zones along the Bay of Bengal in South-Eastern Bangladesh.