Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has inaugurated the boring work of the much-awaited Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel under the Karnaphuli river, opening up a new horizon in the country’s communication system.
She did this by unveiling the tunnel’s plaque at a function at Patenga in Chattogram Sunday morning.
The 3.5 kilometres long four-lane tunnel, the first of its kind in Bangladesh and South-East Asia, will be built at a cost of Taka 98.80 billion to make Chattogram ‘One City Two Towns’, modelled on east and west Shanghai of China, officials said.
The total length of the proposed tunnel will be around 9.092 kilometres, including 3.40 kilometres of tunnel under the Karnaphuli River with an approach road of 4.89 kilometres alongside 740 metres of bridges linking the main port city and western side of the Karnaphuli along with the heavy industry-prone eastern side of the river.
The tunnel route will pass through the river close to Navy College on one side and Korean Export Processing Zone (KEPZ) and Karnaphuli Fertiliser Company (Kafco) on the other.
It will cut short the road distance between Chattogram and Cox’s Bazar, apart from easing the traffic on Dhaka-Chittagong Highway entering the port city to go to other parts of Chattogram division.
The multilane tunnel will connect Chattogram Port and Anowara Upazila and it is expected to make communication between Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar easier with reducing traffic congestion on two bridges over the Karnaphuli river.
Chinese firm China Communication Construction Company Ltd (CCCC) has been appointed as a consultant for construction of the tunnel, the sources added.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Chinese President Xi Jinping jointly laid its foundation stone on October 14 in 2017.
The prime minister also opened the construction work of the 17-kilometre- long elevated expressway in the port city, BSS reports.
Ministers, parliament members, local Awami League leaders and high civil and military officials were present at the function.
The proposed Elevated Expressway starting from Lalkhan Bazar to Shah Amanat Airport will be built at a cost of Taka 32.50 billion.
Max Benkin JB has been appointed as contractor for construction of the elevated expressway.
