Nitor-Gb Link Road
Yet another deadline missed
The construction of the road linking Mirpur 2 with Agargaon in the capital has again missed its deadline as only one-seventh of the road has been completed till now.
The construction work was supposed to be completed by June of this year as was said by the then project director Abdur Rajjak. He had told New Age that if the construction was not completed by June, it would need another couple of months.
However, after missing the deadlines for four months, the Dhaka North City Corporation has not yet completed land acquiring process.
‘We could finish the work in time but for that land acquisition process should have been completed first,’ said acting project director M Kudrat Ullah.
During a spot visit this week, New Age found only 500 meters of the 3.6-kilometre road finished at Agargaon.
The sixty-foot wide road, with Grameen Bank headquarters on the north and the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation on the south, is expected to ease pressure of traffic on Mirpur Road and Rokeya Sarani.
Project officials said they were yet to acquire four mosques, a post office and a building of Jatiya Andha Kalyan Samity. Besides, many buildings which have already been acquired are yet to be demolished.
According to the officials and locals, the Dhaka North City Corporation has not been able to acquire many pockets of the route as some owners of land in those areas have filed cases against the compulsory land acquisition.
The DNCC officials told New Age that around 10 or more legal notices and around three cases have been filed against them by the owners of the land
On a recent visit to the project site, New Age found that many structures on the road were yet to be demolished. The process of sand filling is still going on slowly and some times it stopped for raining.
After even light showers, people living near the project site have to suffer as the mud around the site makes it difficult for them to use the road.
Mamun Mia, a grocery shop owner, alleged that after the construction had started in December 2012, the inhabitants of the surrounding areas including Agargaon, Monipur, Kajipara, Shewrapara and Pirerbag have been suffering a lot for the incomplete road.
Local people also alleged that progress in the work is so slow.
Kudrat Ullah said, ‘May be, it is true that the people of these areas are suffering for the construction work, but when the project will be finished, they will be the beneficiary.’
‘We are optimistic that we would be able to finish the project by December of this year, if the legal complexities are addressed,’ he said.
The erstwhile Dhaka City Corporation took the project in 2004 following the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha’s 1995 master plan.
The original plan did not allow construction of any building on the route of the road. Three contractors are working to build the estimated Tk 240 crore road along with footpaths and a divider.
-With New Age input
