The Uttara Residential Model Town (3rd Phase) project failed to complete its construction works on time.
The project, already having completed 90 percent of the works, was supposed to be handed over at the end of this month. However, a time extension of one year has been sought to complete the remaining works.
Sources said that RAJUK’s project of Uttara Residential Model Town (3rd Phase) kicked off in 2000. The project was estimated and scheduled to be finished by the running month (June) of the ongoing year. However, the project is not yet complete.
Authorities mainly blame Covid-19 pandemic along with other minor factors for the delay in the project. The concerned authorities have applied for a 1 year extension for the project to be complete; however, the request has not been approved yet.
The Uttara Residential Model Town (3rd Phase) Project Director Hafizul Islam said that the estimated time of completion for the project was until June 2021. The ministry has not allowed any time extension. Additional projects will be considered if updates are required.
The director said, “Around 90 percent work is complete. We have requested for an additional year that we lost due to the pandemic but it has not been granted yet.”
He shared that other projects implemented later on, had to be adjusted into the master plan and the plan was updated.
“The initially approved master plan did not include the metro rail, so changes had to be made. The initial plan consisted of constructing kitchen markets, bus stations etc that had to be relocated. Hub stations for the metro rail had to be included”, he said.
He added that the project was on the right track and could have been finished on time. wever, due to the pandemic, a year was lost. If the extension of 1 year is granted, the project would be complete. It is up to the authority regarding how much time they can extend.
The project of the 3rd phase began in the year 2000 and land accusation started in the very year. The land filling activities began from the year 2003.
The master plan of the 3rd phase of Uttara consists of four sectors: sector- 15, sector-16, sector-17 and sector-18. Sector 15-17 have been designed in plots but sector-18 consists of a separate ongoing project by RAJUK designed for multiple high-rise buildings.
Sectors 15, 16 and 17 consist of 8295 plots. The plots have been sold publically and authorities claim that 95% of the plots have already been handed over.
The handover began at the end of the year 2016 and was set to be completed by the middle of 2018.
Sector-18 consists of a different project and hence a different policy. Due to the project being based on high-raised buildings, flats or apartments have been sold publically instead of plots.
The updated estimated cost for the project is Tk. 2316 crore. According to authorities, around 1900 crore taka has already been spent on the project.