The Chattogram Kind Authority (CDA) is watching for final approval from the Division of Atmosphere (DoE) to atomize 5 hills in explain to remain landslides alongside the Bayezid-Faujdarhat Link Avenue, a mission that has faced basic environmental criticism since its inception.
The avenue, building of which started in 1997, was as soon as supposed to enhance connectivity between the Bayezid Bostami and Faujdarhat areas, ease site visitors congestion, and promote style in underdeveloped areas of the metropolis.
However, the mission has been marked by delays, fee overruns, and environmental damage, especially due to the the razing of 16 hills to develop capability for the avenue.
The enchancment removed 10.30 lakh cubic metres of earth from these 16 hills, setting up dangerously steep, cease to-vertical slopes. These 90-level cliffs are highly at risk of landslides, in particular at some stage within the monsoon season.
Several landslides possess already occurred, raising excessive security concerns for commuters and residents in nearby areas. A modern landslide on 14 September has all all over again drawn attention to the dangers posed by these steep cliffs.
Environmentalists and officials possess criticised the CDA for failing to assess the aptitude damage the mission would cause. This lack of oversight has endangered the encompassing ambiance and resulted in the imposition of a hefty gorgeous on the CDA.
The DoE fined the CDA over Tk10.38 crore for violating hill administration guidelines and for cutting more hills than on the starting place licensed.
In response, the CDA utilized for permission to diminish an further 3.32 lakh cubic metres of earth to diminish the dangers posed by the steep cliffs. CDA has proposed razing 5 in particular unhealthy hills alongside the avenue in an try to handle the rising hazard of landslides.
The CDA estimates that the de-risking mission will fee spherical Tk8 crore. Once approval is granted, the CDA intends to starting up up work straight away to develop the avenue safer for lengthy-term consume.
However, the DoE has yet to approve this ask, further delaying crucial safety features.
CDA Chief Engineer Kazi Hasan Bin Shams mentioned that these 5 hills unique the ideal risk and are the predominant purpose of their de-risking efforts.
“The CDA plans to diminish the steepness of the slopes, invent preserving partitions to present structural strengthen, set up geo-baggage to remain soil erosion, and plant trees to support stabilise the hillsides and live further landslides,” he mentioned.
To recordsdata these efforts, the CDA has fashioned an knowledgeable committee, which contains professors from Chittagong University, the Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology, and representatives from the Roads and Highways Division, the DoE, and the CDA itself.
This committee has developed a detailed hill administration knowing that outlines the crucial steps to stabilise the hills and live further environmental damage.
The knowing’s assemble and drawings possess already been licensed, and the CDA is now watching for final clearance from the DoE to starting up up work.
Masud Iqbal Md Shamim, director of Environmental Clearance on the DoE, confirmed that the CDA’s application to atomize the 5 hills and invent preserving partitions has been forwarded to the Ministry of Atmosphere, Wooded area, and Native weather Trade for approval.
“If the ministry grants approval, the CDA will most likely be allowed to proceed with the mission under strict conditions designed to minimise environmental harm,” he mentioned.
This initiative comes after years of issues, which possess prompted the general fee of the Bayezid-Faujdarhat Link Avenue mission to upward thrust vastly from the distinctive Tk33.81 crore budget in 1999 to Tk320 crore by the level the avenue was as soon as opened in 2020.
Regardless of these challenges, the Bayezid-Faujdarhat Link Avenue is believed of as a crucial portion of infrastructure for Chattogram. It supplies a crucial connection between the Dhaka-Chattogram toll road and the metropolis’s industrial and residential areas.
The avenue is anticipated to rob economic style within the region by enhancing earn entry to to underdeveloped areas, facilitating industrial suppose, and easing site visitors congestion.
The CDA’s newest efforts to handle the landslide risks replicate a shift in opposition to more accountable infrastructure style, nevertheless the lengthy delays, increased prices, and environmental damage prompted by earlier selections highlight the need for better planning and stricter oversight in future projects.
