CHATTOGRAM, Feb 19: The time for completing Karnaphuli Capital Dredging project, beset with many problems and delayed multiple times earlier, including coronavirus outbreak and the consecutive lockdown, has been extended once again.
Chittagong Port Authority (CPA), the implementing authority of the project, has got several more months to complete the long-awaited project, an official having full knowledge of the matter, said.
The CPA, with support from Bangladesh Navy, is implementing the Tk 2.42 billion (Tk 242 crore) project, initiated more than two decades ago.
Talking with the FE on Saturday, Commander Arifur Rahman, Chief Hydrographer of CPA and also the Project Director (PD), said that July this year is the new deadline set to complete entire work of the project, which resumed on November 16, 2020, after a long delay because of multifarious problems.
"The scheduled time of the project has now been extended to July 2022," he said.
The long-awaited capital dredging of River Karnaphuli, the lifeline of the country's economy, restarted on Nov 16, 2020, following lifting of the coronavirus-induced lockdown after the first wave of the pandemic hit the country in March that year.
The halt in completing dredging work due to the Covid-19 and several other reasons, including problems in removing polythene and other plastic objects from the river bed, has severely hampered smooth navigation in the Port Channel which also affected the maritime trade, another official at the CPA said.
However, PD Arifur Rahman said that more than 60 per cent work of the project has been completed till January 2022.
Officials said, dredging of the river had been expedited in the last several months of last year following lifting of the lockdown imposed after the second wave of the pandemic started lashing the country early 2021.
Most of the polythene wastes, a major problem for the project, have been removed and more than 11 per cent of works had been completed every month since late last year, they mentioned.
Replying to question, Mr Arif confirmed that the entire dredging work will be completed before the newly-set deadline.
Echoing him, Secretary of CPA Mohammed Omar Faruk noted that the CPA has started the capital dredging afresh after a long time. Bangladesh Navy is cooperating in this regard, he said.
Besides the Navy, the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), the consultant of the project which has also developed a new dredging machine to cut the hard plastic wastes, including polythene, is collaborating wholeheartedly for early completion of the project, he said.
Sources said, the CPA launched an initiative for dredging Karnaphuli River's upstream (Chittagong Port's navigational channel) nearly 22 years back after conducting surveys in this regard multiple times in the area.
nazim07@yahoo.com