Govt. trying to make Dhaka city livable to maximum level: PM

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the government is facing multifarious complexities during implementing new development plans as everything concerned to Dhaka's development was done without proper plan in the past.

"We are making our best efforts to make the capital a good livable city. . . we have to think to improve the situation from current level," she said in a meeting on development of the Dhaka City's communication system at her office here today.

In the meeting concerned officials presented their plan before the Prime Minister on ten projects for development of the Dhaka City's communication system.

The projects are- Dhaka Circular Route: Second Phase and Eastern Bypass, Dhaka-Narayanganj, Dhaka-Tongi and Dhaka-Mawa rail lines, Tongi-Narayanganj Subway, Mass-rapid transit (MRT) and bus rapid transit (BRT), Dhaka Elevated Expressway, Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway, Shantinagar-Dhaka-Mawa Flyover, Gulshan-Banani-Baridhara Lake Project and Bus Route Rationalization and Company based operation and BRT Expressway.

Housing and Public Works Minister Engineer Mosharraf Hossain, LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Engineer Khandakar Mosharraf Hosssain, Railway Minister M. Mujibul Haque, Water Resources Minister Anisul Islam Mahmud, Mayors of Dhaka North and South City Corporations were present.

Principal Coordination of the SDG Programmes Abdul Kalam Azad conducted the presentation programme.

The Prime Minister said there was a masterplan for development of Dhaka City. But no government followed it, constructing road, culverts and lanes according to their whims.

She said the number of motor vehicles is increasing fast in the city as economic condition of the people is improving. But the space of roads is limited and most of them are from northward to southward.

Keeping this problem in mind, Sheikh Hasina said, her government had undertaken the eastern bypass project in 1996. But the project could not proceed after change of power in 2001.

Sheikh Hasina lays importance on constructing circular road across the Dhaka flood protection embankment, water circular way to make the communication and shipment of goods more smooth and easy.

Most of the ponds, lakes and canals of the city were abolished while constructing many box culverts causing water-logging in the city, she said adding that all lakes in the city were connected with rivers which was destroyed mostly by the military dictators.

No development should be at the cost of public sufferings, but unfortunately this was happened in Dhaka, she added.

The Prime Minister said a number of bypass and overpass were constructed in the city and many occupied areas were freed from illegal grabbers. But we have to do more as communication of a capital city should be more easy and comfortable.

Source: bss