Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed said Thursday it was time to make the capital city habitable by cleansing it of environment pollution and traffic jam, reports UNB.
He regretted that the city-dwellers had to suffer much being deprived of facilities of many city-development schemes for not starting the projects in right time or delayed start or foot dragging on their implementation.
He blamed these unwarranted problems on a lack of coordination among city-development departments concerned and service-providing organisations.
The head of caretaker government made the observations as he formally inaugurated the implementation works of the 20-year-long Strategic Transport Plan (STP) for sustainable, safe and environment-friendly transport and communications system encompassing Dhaka and adjacent districts of Narayanganj, Munshiganj, Narsingdi, Gazipur and Manikganj.
He gave the go by switching on the scheme at a function organised by Dhaka Transport Coordination Board (DTCB) of the Communications Ministry at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium.
The mega-project will be implemented in phases in the sprawling STP command area measuring about 17,400 square kilometers.
Its implementation has fallen behind almost three years for not activating and approving the project in right time. The scheduled implementation period of the first phase of STP was 2005 to 2009, the launching ceremony of the STP was informed during a presentation.
The present caretaker government approved the project this year, against the backdrop of commuters' abject suffering for outmoded transport system of the capital compounded with nagging traffic congestion that causes waste of valuable time in this high-speed age.
Additional executive director of DTCB SM Saleuddin made a short presentation on the multi-modal transport system in the burgeoning capital, which involves an expenditure of 5.2 billion US dollars, excluding the cost of land acquisition.
Construction and reconstruction of about 330 kilometers of roads and highways, including 50 new roads, flyover, elevated expressways, metro (underground railway), circular waterways, bus rapid transit (BRT), rapid mass transit (RMT), bus-route rationalisation, traffic-system development and safe environment are the major components of the STP.
The feasibility study of metro and elevated expressway has been started for building the underground and up-ground communications networks.
Communications Adviser Ghulam Quader presided over the launching ceremony of STP activities. Secretary of Roads and Railways Division M Mahbubur Rahman delivered the welcome address. Advisers and special assistants to the Chief Adviser and civil and military officials were, among others, present at the function.
The CA said his government had given an important consideration to the matter of increasing scope and facilities of city life alongside resolving people's problems and fulfilling their expectations.
He noted that Dhaka city was turning into a mega-city in the context of changing times.
