Ctg section of Dhaka-Ctg 4-lane Highway project to be ready by December

CHITTAGONG, Nov 8: Widening of the Chittagong-Dhaka four-lane project in 66 kilometres of the Chittagong section is nearing completion and the contractors have said they will hand over the portion of the highway to the authority concerned within this December.
The 45 kilometres out of 66 km in the Chittagong section have been completed and made usable by completing bitumen works and vehicles now use the four-lane highway, contractors said.
Works in the rest 21 kilometres are yet to be completed by the Sino Hydro Corporation. Although bridges and culverts have been constructed in the section, land filling, brickwork, concrete work and bitumen work are yet to be accomplished.
Work is going on in full swing in four packages from Chittagong City Gate to Mirersarai as the two local contractors have advanced a lot compared to that of Chinese firm Sino Hydro Corporation.
Additional Project Director of Chittagong section of the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway Engineer Arun Alo Chakma said work in the package of Sino Hydro has proceeded well since last April following directives of Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader.
The works in packages 1 and 7 by Reza Construction and package 10 by joint venture of Taher Brothers Ltd and Al-Amin Construction are satisfactory and may be completed within December 2014, Engineer Arun Alo said.
Sino Hydro is working in seven packages such as 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 9 while Taher Brothers is working in package 10. Reza Construction is working at packages 1 and 7. He expressed the hope that vehicles will ply on the four-lane from Dhumghat in Mirersarai to Chittagong City Gate from January 2015.
FR Ferdous, deputy project director of Taher Brothers, said 98 per cent works of the 15-kilometre Kumira Bypass to Chittagong City Gate under package 10 has been completed. "We have completed 14 kilometres and vehicles are plying on that 4-lane section. We will complete the rest within December this year and hand over our portion of the highway to the authority by that time," he said.
Ferdous further said that the package of Reza Construction in Chittagong section is also nearing completion as they completed more than 95 per cent works by October.
He said that the local administration is yet to acquire land in the Hafiz Jute Mill area in the rest 2 per cent of his package. The government did not even allot the necessary fund though it has given top priority to end the project as soon as possible.

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