Work of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel under the Karnaphuli River is continuously going on with the tunnel becoming more visible each day.
A tunnel boring machine (TBM) is being used for the boring round the clock. The tube is also being constructed linking the main segments with one another.
Two such tubes will be constructed under the river. One to enter the city and the other to exit it. Each tube will be 16 feet in height and 35 feet wide. These tubes will facilitate 63 lakh vehicles to ply on both sides of the tunnel.
Not only this, according to project information, this route will be used in connecting the Silk Route of China. A new way that will connect Bangladesh to Myanmar will reach China.
Nearly half or about 45 percent of the work of the 3.5km-long tunnel has already been completed. Some 350 meters of the tunnel was constructed in six months, and now on an average 4 to 6 metres are being constructed every day.
The authorities concerned are optimistic about completing the project in due time as the progress so far is satisfactory. The Tk 10,000 crore project was up taken to transform Chattogram into ‘one city, two towns’ like in East and West Shanghai, China. The project is expected to alter the look of Chattogram significantly.
The tunnel will be the first in South Asia to connect two sides of a river. The tunnel route will pass under the river close to the Naval College on one side and the Korean Export Processing Zone (KEPZ) and Karnaphuli Fertilizer Company (Kafco) on the other.
It will cut short the distance between Chattogram and Cox’s Bazar districts apart from easing traffic on the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway entering the port city to go to other parts of Chattogram division.
The multi-lane tunnel will connect Chattogram Port and Anowara Upazila and is expected to make communication between Chattogram and Cox’s Bazar easier, reducing traffic congestion on two bridges over the Karnaphuli River.
Chinese firm, China Communication Construction Company Ltd (CCCC), has been appointed as a consultant for construction of the tunnel, sources added. On 14 October 2016, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Chinese President Xi Jinping laid the foundation stone of the tunnel. The dream of the tunnel is now almost a reality.
After the inauguration of the boring works by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on 24 February this year, the construction of the tunnel has been going on non-stop.
The four-lane tunnel, with around 6 kilometres of approach roads on both sides of the river, started from the edge of Chattogram metropolitan to the southern side of Anowara. It will lead to the development of south Chattogram. Many have already bought land in the area as it is likely to become a hub for urbanization and industrial activity.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel project director Engineer Harun-ur-Rashid Chowdhury said that the project deadline is December 2022.
He said that he is satisfied with the progress so far and hopeful that the project will be completed in due time. In the last six months, boring of 350 meters has been completed which is 14.69 percent of the total tunnel. He further said 45 percent of the physical infrastructure of the project has been completed. The latest boring machines are being used in the project. The tunnel is progressing from the city’s Patenga end towards the end of Anowara, he added.
