Jatrabari-Gulistan flyover project inaugurated

A model of the Gulistan-Jatrabari flyover. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the construction of the much-awaited project yesterday. Photo: FileStaff Correspondent

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina formally inaugurated the Jatrabari-Gulistan flyover, the biggest project taken up so far under Public Private Partnership, yesterday.

The PM said she had directed to revise the design of the project to integrate with the projected traffic through the Padma Bridge, Dhaka-Chittagong expressway and Narayanganj-Gazipur elevated way.

The Jatrabari flyover would be named after the first Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) mayor (late) Mohammad Hanif, declared the premier at the city's Golapbagh playground.

Belhasa Accom and Associates Ltd, an associate company of the Orion Group and concessionaire of the project, will implement the project at a cost of Tk 1,350 crore on Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) basis.

The investor (concessionaire) will transfer the facility to the government after a concession period of 24 years.

The concessionaire would be quick in completing the flyover construction within the tenure of the incumbent government, said the PM, adding that the DCC is the executing agency of the project.

LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Syed Ashraful Islam said, "Revival of the Jatrabari flyover project would not be possible without the prime minister's initiative, as there were many complications."

The revised design of the flyover is of international standard, which would be the most convenient road link, he said.

Chairman of the concessionaire company Mohammad Obaidul Karim said the construction would be completed in two years after the relocation of Wasa, Titas Gas and BTTB utility lines.

Toll for using the flyover would be collected manually and digitally, he added.

The nine-kilometre dual carriageway flyover includes 13 slip roads (exit and entries) and will stretch from the Dhaka-Chittagong highway to Palashi. The minimum height of the flyover would be 5.5 metres while 7.2 metres at level crossing, according to sources.

The facility is also expected to provide faster road connectivity with 30 districts and the Chittagong port.

In 1996, the then Awami League government initiated the Jatrabari flyover and conducted a feasibility study but the succeeding four-party alliance government could not implement the project due to corruption and inefficiency, said the PM.

State minister for LGRD Jahangir Kabir Nanak, local lawmaker Md Habibur Rahman Molla and DCC's Chief Executive Officer Md Abul Kalam Azad, among others, spoke at the inauguration ceremony chaired by Monjur Hossain, secretary of Local Government Division.