Karnaphuli tunnel to be named after Bangabandhu

Staff Correspondent: Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said the tunnel which is being built under Karnaphuli River will be named after Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

“Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the excavation work of the Karnaphuli Tunnel by starting the tunnel boring machine on February 24,” he said.

The minister made the disclosure while talking to reporters after attending a function at the Setu Bhaban in Dhaka's Banani marking the signing of an agreement between the Bridges Division and Bangladesh Navy on the security of the multilane tunnel under the Karnaphuli River in Chattogram on Monday.

Bridge Authority Chief Engineer Kazi Ferdous and Navy Operations Director Commodore Mahmudul Malek, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective sides.

Navy Chief Vice Admiral Abu Mozaffar Mohiuddin Mohammad Aurangzeb Chowdhury and other higher officials including Bridges Division secretary were also present at the function.

Mentioning that 32 percent work on the tunnel project has already completed, Quader said the project will be completed by 2022 at a cost of Tk 9880.4 crore.

As per the agreement, Bangladesh Navy will provide security at the tunnel site for four years involving around Tk 65 crore.

The total length of the tunnel is 3.43 kilometres with an approach road of 5.63 kilometres linking the main city, port and western side of the Karnaphuli along with the heavy industry-prone eastern side of the river.

The tunnel will connect the Naval Academy point in Patenga with Anwara on the other side. It will cut the road distance between Chattogram and Cox's Bazar, apart from facilitating the heavy traffic on Dhaka-Chattogram Highway entering the port city to go to other parts of Chattogram division.


risingbd/Dhaka/Feb 11, 2019/Hasan/AI