At least 74 per cent of construction works of the nine-km long Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) embankment-cum- marine drive road at a cost of TK 3,200 crore have been completed, official sources said on Wednesday.
The construction works of 11 sluice gates out of 12 have already been completed at the estuary of 11 canals of the city under this project and the rest will be completed by December next, said Rajib Das, Project Director (PD) of Chaktai to Kalurghat Bridge Marine Drive Project on the west bank of Karnaphuli River.
Earlier, the scheduled time for completion of the project was June 2022. Presently, it has been extended up to June 2024.
The project cost has also increased. The Project cost was Taka 2,279 crore till June 2022, now it has been increased to Taka 3,200 crore.
The PD said the construction works of the eight-kilometre out of nine kilometres of the project have been progressing fast as the land acquisition activities have been completed from the area.
The construction and land acquisition activities of the rest one kilometre from Kalurghat Industrial area to Kalurghat Railway Bridge which was started from September last as all kinds of obstacles have already been removed and it will be completed by December next, he added.
PD Rajib Das said at least 95 per cent of construction works of 12 high-tide protection regulators and pump-houses are being installed at the mouths of 12 canals to quickly dispose up the rainwater from the city area have been completed till today.
He hoped that the construction works of 12 high-tide protection regulators and pump houses would be completed by this month.
Rajib Das said the construction works of 11 more sluice gates, erected at the estuary of 11 canals of the city under this project and the rest construction works of one sluice gate will be completed by December next.
He informed that if the CDA marine drive is constructed, the vehicles bound for north and northeastern region of Chattogram from the southeast will directly reach to Kaptai, Rangunia and Boalkhali upazilas of the district without entering the city.
The embankment-cum-road will be a four-lane one and its height will be 24.5 feet above sea level and 80 feet wide as per the guidelines of Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and survey of the Chattogram Metropolitan Master Plan-1995.
The construction works of the Chaktai to Kalurghat bridge marine drive project was inaugurated in June 2019 with the construction of a sluice gate at the estuary of Chaktai canal.
The project was approved in the meeting of the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) on April 25 in 2017.
