The 1.33 kilometre Bahaddarhaat flyover was an Eid-ul-Azha gift to residents of Chittagong, said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, as she opened it to traffic on Saturday.
While inaugurating the country’s longest flyover on Friday, the Prime Minister had said it was an Eid gift to Dhaka residents.
The Awami League President declared that the Chittagong flyover would be named after late AL leader MA Mannan, a minister during the party’s 1996- 2001 tenure.
The Prime Minister inaugurated 21 other projects and laid foundation plaques for eight more in Chittagong after she landed in Chittagong cantonment by a helicopter in the morning.
Later she went to Bahaddarhat area to launch the flyover.
She next visited the Chittagong Press Club to inaugurate a mural of her father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Then she addressed a civil gathering at the Jamyatul Falah National Mosque ground.
The Prime Minister asked people to vote for her party so that the development process may continue.
At around 11am, Hasina opened the flyover. The Tk 10.6 billion project was funded by the Chittagong Development Authority (CDA).
Supervision of construction was handed over to the army following a construction collapse that killed 13 people in November last year.
The flyover connects the Bahaddarhaat bus terminal to Cox’s Bazaar and Upazilas of Southern Chittagong.
This is Chittagong’s first flyover, though there is a shorter one linking the Chittagong port to the highway.
In the inaugural ceremony CDA Chairman Abdus Salam said though the flyover would be opened for public after inauguration , it would take some time to finish completely as some minor works were left.
On behalf of the Army Special Works Organisation, Brig Gen Shamsul Alam Khan also spoke at the ceremony. In the civil gathering, the Prime Minister outlined a plan to build an elevated expressway funded by the Chittagong port. The expressway will be connecting the Chittagong Shah Amanat International Airport with Karnaphuli Bridge.
Sheikh Hasina said, “After assuming power I have visited Chittagong more times than I have gone to Tungipara (her ancestral home).
“We are sincere for the development of Chittagong.”
Laying the foundation stone for a 5.5 km flyover from Muradpur to Lalkhan Bazar, the Prime Minister declared that it would be named after late AL leader Akhtaruzzaman Chowdhury Babu.
Her other programmes include attending a darbar at Bangladesh Military Academy and attending a programme at the Naval Academy at Potenga.
Projects inaugurated
Oxygen-Quaish road, Dewanhat overpass, Saltgola working women’s dormitory, Dhaka Trunk road (Alangker-Dewanhat), Arakan road, Hathazari road (Oxygen-Oli Khan msque), Pathantuli road, College road (Gani Bakery-Oli Khan mosque), CDA Girls’ School and College, New Market B Block (9th floor), an academic complex in the CDA residential area.
Twenty five megawatt dual fuel power plant in Raozan, Sheikh Russel Aviary and Eco Park in Rangunia Upazila, Nabin Chandra Sen memorial complex in Raozan, jetty terminal in Kumira, auditorium cum community centre in Mirsarai, Gobindapur Super Market cum community centre in Patiya, Fatehpur community centre in Fatikchari Upazila.
Patiya municipality bus terminal and Patiya municipality auditorium, Rizbiya Siddiquia Dakhil Madrassa, Bibirhat modern food testing centre, regional passport office in Chandgaon, Banshkhali multipurpose cyclone shelter centre and another multipurpose cyclone shelter centre in west Banshkhali Coastal Degree College.
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