CHATTOGRAM, May 07: The hydraulic survey of Karnaphuli River was completed last month and the survey report will be submitted to the concerned department of the government next month, officials said.
Started in 2019, the survey, styled "Karnaphuli Hydrologic and Hydraulic Study" has been completed and HR Waling Ford company of United Kingdom (UK) which conducted the study will file its report in November next, officials at the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) said.
HR Waling Ford conducted the hydrologic and hydraulic survey, the second of its kind on Karnaphuli after 61 years, from Kaptai Dam area to the Outer Anchorage in Kutubdia area at a cost of Tk 140 million, they also said.
Stopped twice due to coronavirus outbreak in 2020 and 2021, the company took over three years to do the job, they added.
They said the survey may open up fresh possibilities of increasing draft at the mouth of the port channel and Karnaphuli River, and also saving the waterbody and proper use of its water and other aquatic resources.
When contacted, CPA's chief hydrographer M Arifur Rahman confirmed that the survey was completed in September last.
He said it was scheduled to be completed by December 2021. But, as the experts could not come to Chattogram on time from foreign countrues due global travel restriction for the Covid-19 outbreak following signing of an agreement with the UK company in 2019, he added.
CPA chairman Rear Admiral M Shahajahan said, "HR Waling Ford Company of UK was deployed to conduct the survey was hampered amid the pandemic. However, from January in the current year, a team of HR Waling Ford arrived here and resumed their work. As they survey was completed last month the report will be submitted soon," he added.
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