Three more U-turns open in DNCC
Including these three new ones, six U-turns have been launched so far
Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) opened up three more U-turns from Tejgaon Satara to Uttara Jasimuddin Avenue under the 10 U-turns Construction Project on Sunday.
The U-turns are on the road in front of the Tejgaon BG Press, Kohinoor Chemical Road of Nabisco area and Banani Chairman bari area. Six U-turns have been launched so far including these new three ones.
The Project Director and Superintendent Engineer (Additional) of DNCC, Khandakar Mahbub Alam, told The Business Standard, "Subject to completion of the work, we have started to open the U-turns in phases. Although the project is valid till next financial year, 80% of the work has been completed. It will be possible to open all the U-turns before the deadline."
He also said senior officials, including the mayor of DNCC, will inspect the launched U-turns on Monday.
The three U-turns launched before these ones are at Kawla Flying Academy, in front of the Uttara RAB 1 Office and at Uttara Jasim Uddin intersection.
The construction of four more U-turns is underway: in front of the Mohakhali inter-district bus terminal, under the Mohakhali Flyover, at the Banani-Kakoli Rail station, and under the Banani foot overpass.
DNCC Mayor Md Atiqul Islam said, "These U-turns will reduce traffic jams in the area and save a lot of time for the city's people."
"This city has to be made more beautiful and these U-turns will decrease people's suffering," he added.
Although there were plans to build a total of 11 U-turns at the beginning of the project, the U-turn adjacent to the Army Golf Club was canceled with the first amendment to the project.
The original approved cost of the project was Tk24.83 crore but the first revised estimated expenditure stood at Tk31,80,97,000.
The DNCC said although the construction work started on 4 November, 2016, the work halted after the death of Anisul Haque. Then it was stuck for a while. It gained momentum again after four years.
Also, the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) obstructed the project as some facilities of the department had to be removed for the implementation of the project. As a result, the project needed to be revised.
After discussions with the RHD, revising the project and arranging some compensation, the problems were solved. The project cost increased by Tk6.98 crore because of it.