Dhaka-Chittagong new expressway proposal to all
Sunday, 30 August 2009
THE news about the proposed four-lane Dhaka-Chittagong Expressway that was published in some national dailies was welcome. This is more particularly so, because it is expected to be constructed, as the reports said, by a Malaysian company. We would like to see Bangladesh's road & highway sector being developed and modernised, as was done in the case of Malaysia. In this connection, I would like to propose an idea relating to the proposed Dhaka-Chittagong expressway.
We now reach Chittagong in six to seven hours' time by crossing 264 km distance from Dhaka. If we can build a short highway of 180 km from Dhaka to Chittagong, and drive at 90 km speed per hour, then we can reach Chittagong within two hours from Dhaka.
The construction cost for a straight and smooth road will be less than that of zigzag-type ones. This road should facilitate tourism and business and attract both local and foreign tourists. The coastal belt area will become the tourist zone when the road will pass by the sea beach as is the case in many foreign countries. It will also provide good opportunities for maximising the benefits from the Asian highway.
In this connection, the proposed road should run from Dhaka to the south-east, connecting Keraniganj-Narayanganj-Bondor over Shitalakkhay and the Meghna rivers. After the two bridge crossings, we can directly arrive, via the north of Matlab, Hajiganj-Shaharasti- Laksham and then proceed through Shenbagh-Dagonbhuiyan to the south of Sonagazi. Following that, we can cross the coastal belt via the last point of the river Feni in the south (a new bridge over the river Feni in the south may be constructed.) Then the road will enter the south-west zone of Mirersharai coastal belt before reaching Chittagong by crossing a total distance of 180 km. If Sylhet can now be four hours' journey from what was earlier a 10/12-hour one, then why cannot Chittagong become a two-hour journey by modifying the road?
Saulat Kamran
saulat@dhaka.net
We now reach Chittagong in six to seven hours' time by crossing 264 km distance from Dhaka. If we can build a short highway of 180 km from Dhaka to Chittagong, and drive at 90 km speed per hour, then we can reach Chittagong within two hours from Dhaka.
The construction cost for a straight and smooth road will be less than that of zigzag-type ones. This road should facilitate tourism and business and attract both local and foreign tourists. The coastal belt area will become the tourist zone when the road will pass by the sea beach as is the case in many foreign countries. It will also provide good opportunities for maximising the benefits from the Asian highway.
In this connection, the proposed road should run from Dhaka to the south-east, connecting Keraniganj-Narayanganj-Bondor over Shitalakkhay and the Meghna rivers. After the two bridge crossings, we can directly arrive, via the north of Matlab, Hajiganj-Shaharasti- Laksham and then proceed through Shenbagh-Dagonbhuiyan to the south of Sonagazi. Following that, we can cross the coastal belt via the last point of the river Feni in the south (a new bridge over the river Feni in the south may be constructed.) Then the road will enter the south-west zone of Mirersharai coastal belt before reaching Chittagong by crossing a total distance of 180 km. If Sylhet can now be four hours' journey from what was earlier a 10/12-hour one, then why cannot Chittagong become a two-hour journey by modifying the road?
Saulat Kamran
saulat@dhaka.net