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Haor tourism on cards

Rashad Ahamad
20 Oct 2021 00:00:00 | Update: 20 Oct 2021 00:59:23
Haor tourism on cards
Elevated 14km road in Kishoreganj’s Karimganj area

The Bangladesh Bridge Authority has planned to build a 14km elevated four-lane all-weather road from Marichkhali Bazar of Kishoreganj’s Karimganj upazila to Mithamain to promote tourism in haor areas.

Officials of the bridge authority, a government agency under the road transport and bridges ministry, said Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology’s (BUET) Civil Engineering Department and the Institute of Water and Flood Management had jointly conducted the feasibility study and were working on a detailed design of the road.

Thousands of people suffer while travelling the 14km distance, which remains submerged for more than half of the year and almost unusable for the rest of the time.

Why elevated road

Md Hadiuzzaman, a transportation expert and civil engineering professor at BUET, told The Business Post a road on an embankment had been considered initially for local connectivity, but it had now been designed for regional connectivity and boosting tourism.

Hadiuzzaman, who led the team drawing up the road master plan, said the local economy would get a boost once the road was completed as haor areas receive many tourists.

In October last year, the 29.73km Itna-Mithamoin-Austagramall-weather road constructed at a cost of Tk 874.08 crore was inaugurated for traffic.

Built on an embankment, the road runs straight through the vast haor region and has already become one of the most stunning tourist destinations, particularly for travellers, holidaymakers, and thrill-seekers.

But green activists criticised the road as it was constructed on an embankment, saying it would negatively impact the environment and the ecosystem.

Professor Hadiuzzaman said they had planned to build the elevated road in the ecologically important haor area considering environmental impacts.

“An elevated road will cost a little bit higher than an embankment, but the latter is not suitable for haor areas for various reasons,” he pointed out.

The expert explained that a road on an embankment would need four times more footprint, compelling the authorities to acquire huge land and soil to build the embankment.

The government will need 56 acres of land for the elevated road, which will be four times higher in case of an embankment, he added.

Bridge authority Superintending Engineer Md Ohiduzzaman said the road’s draft plan would be presented to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council soon.

“We consulted with the president and other senior officials in this regard last week,” he said.

Ohiduzzaman hoped that construction would begin by next year after completing all processes.

The road would be built with government funds, and tolls would be imposed after it was opened to traffic. According to the bridge authority, tolls would be set after a detailed evaluation.

Project cost

The project’s estimated cost was Tk 4,794 crore and would be completed by 2027. To complete the feasibility study and design, Tk 19.63 crore was allocated, said the bridge authority.

The report of the feasibility study done by BUET suggests that the road’s annual average daily traffic would be 16,637, including 258 buses and 550 trucks in 2027.

But by 2040, the annual average daily traffic will reach 22,441.

Special features

CCTV cameras will be installed at regular intervals on the road, and a security outpost will be built in every one kilometre for the safety of tourists and travellers.

The road will be built at a height of 14.4 metres from the main sea level so that water vessels can move uninterruptedly between the two piers situated at a distance of 76.22 metres.

To enable tourists to enjoy the beauty of haor areas amid tight security, at least three two-storey observation decks will be built with roadside parking facilities.

Visitors will have to pay for using the observation decks and parking.

A toll plaza and an administrative building will be built at each end of the road.There will be rescue vehicles in the buildings.

Besides, there will be refreshment facilities in the buildings but not in other places to prevent the pollution of haor.

Three bridges will also be built. Two of them will be 530 metres in length and will be constructed on the Dhanu and Ghorautra rivers. The other will be 400 metres long.

Related development plans

Several related development plans have also been made as traffic and public mobility will increase sharply once the road is constructed.

The acquisition of seven acres of land has been proposed to build resorts, restaurants, and recreational facilities. Private entrepreneurs are also showing interest in building various enterprises there.

The existing two-lane road from Marichkhali to Kishoreganj will be widened to four lanes to cope with the additional traffic pressure.

The acquisition of 72.6 acres of land has been proposed for this.

Vehicles from Sylhet, Habiganj, Sunamganj, and other adjacent areas now reach Kishoreganj via either Bhairab or Netrokona. The new road will reduce this travelling distance by nearly 35 per cent.

Besides, the haor master plan incorporates construction of two roads.

One of them is the 14km Itna-Ajmiriganj-Sunamganjroad, and the other is the 18km Astagram-Lakhai-Habiganjroad.

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