Hatirjheel infrastructure opens today

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FE Team | Published: January 02, 2013 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

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FE Report The long-awaited road and bridge infrastructure around the 300-acre Hatirjheel-Begunbari area in the city will be opened today (Wednesday) adding a panoramic view to the whole area. The 11 kilometres of road network and 10 bridges, viaduct and overpass were built to link the area with Rampura, the Tongi Diversion Road, the Tejgaon-Gulshan link-road and Mogbazar. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate it at a ceremony near the Aarong point in the morning. She will also lay the foundation stone at the same point. A daylong programme has been chalked out to celebrate the successful implementation of the project's first phase. Organisers said the PM would be welcomed at the Tongi Diversion Road by two elephants. After her inauguration of the infrastructure, colourful balloons will be released into the sky and ducks will be released into the lake. A boat race will also take place. In the evening, a cultural function and fireworks will take place. Through the express road of the infrastructure, people will enjoy the facility of uninterrupted traffic from one entry point to another. The service road in the Hatirjheel-Begunbari area will, however, have several link roads between the entry and exit points. Project Director (PD) Brig Gen Abu Syeed Md Masud told the FE that they would need another six months to finish the amusement facilities in the water body under the project. There will be a theatre, a celebration point, lake-viewing decks, water courtyard etc at different points of Hatirjheel and Begunbari. Besides, children's parks and several car parking spots with over 350 transport parking capacity will be developed. "The city dwellers will get a good environment and entertainment spot at the centre of the city," he added. However, experts and urban designers have expressed their worries over keeping the environment of the entire project area safe and sound, as no initiative has been seen so far to ensure security of people and maintain the infrastructure. Urban designer of the project Architect Mohammad Ehsan Khan said as the project was designed for facilitating public life and gathering in the city, ensuring security of people is a must to achieve its ultimate success. The Rajdhani Unnayan Kartipakkhya (RAJUK) initiated the Integrated Development of Hatirjheel-Begunbari Project in 2007 to save the water body from encroachment and turn it into a rainwater retention pond. Later, the project was redesigned, erecting the roads and bridges and providing some entertainment facilities for the people. The project was also handed over to the Bangladesh Army to speed up its implementation by settling land and water-related disputes with different quarters. Finally the project cost was revised to Tk 19.71 billion.