Contractor stops work on road linking Kuril with Kanchan Bridge

Munima Sultana The Rajdhani Unnayan Katripakkha (Rajuk) has run into troubles in completing its 300-feet-wide road from Kuril to Kanchan Bridge through Purbachal as one of the contractors has stopped work, demanding more funds due to, what it said, a significant rise in cost of construction materials, project insiders said. The stoppage of work came at a time when the under-construction road has assumed a far greater importance than before, after inauguration of the Kuril flyover as one of its ramps touches the road linking the eastern zone with the main city. The Rajuk officials said the contractor working on the road from Kuril to Purbachal side of the 13-kilometre road has been demanding more funds since long but it has stopped the work recently on excuse of facing hefty amounts of losses. They said the contractor could make only 40 per cent progress about the construction of the road though it was expected to complete the work by this year. The work of the other side from Purbachal to Kanchan Bridge has been done well, the officials added. The Rajuk started the construction of the 13-km road in 2010 from the fund of its two-decade old Purbachal project with a target to facilitate the present and future inhabitants of the 6,000-acre project area. The 12-lane road was planned to have a four-lane expressway to provide direct link for the project area with the old city. Options for two service roads on both sides of the express road have also been kept to facilitate inhabitants of other private housing projects that are being expanded on the eastern fringe of the city. The Tk 3.5 billion Kuril-Purbachal-Kanchan bridge road was awarded to two joint venture construction firms -- ACL-RP Construction and CTCL-Monico -- dividing the work into two parts in December 2010. The Rajuk's Purbachal project office sources said under the present situation, they are not in a position to say when the road would be ready for traffic movement. "We are seriously considering to cancel the work order of the Purbachal-Kuril part but it may take more time to complete the new tender process," said an official of the project. The work for construction of the Kuril-Purbachal-Kanchan bridge road, the sources said, was once given to the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) in 2000 to construct it speedily, but the Rajuk took it back in 2009 due to the RHD's failure to start the road even after a lapse of nine years. "Two decades have gone but the road could not be made ready. It is still uncertain," said the official as the Rajuk is considering to call a fresh tender for the troubled part. However, after the Kuril flyover inauguration, the Rajuk could not check traffic on the under-construction road due to pressure from nearby housing project areas. They said the pavement road gets a large number of vehicles from highways due to its importance as an alternative gateway to the city, having connection with the Dhaka-Sylhet and the Dhaka-Chittagong highways, as it has enabled the people to avoid hassle at Jatrabari point. Besides, a good number of transports of local housing projects including the Basundhara residential area and the Pink City, also started using the road by establishing connections on their own to avoid the city's traffic jam to go to the northern part. During a visit to the 300-ft wide road on Monday, the FE correspondent also found 20 private cars particularly from the Basundhara and the Pink city crossing the road every minute. Some highway vehicles from the Kanchan Bridge were also using the road, ignoring lots of potholes and incomplete bridges to avoid around 35-km road to come to the areas like Banani, Gulshan and Uttara. The officials at the project site said the traffic flow is also found at night, though the entire area is yet to get any lighting facility.