Posted on May 31, 2018
By Ferdous Ara, New Age
Capital dredging of the River Karnaphuli is yet to start to restore the river’s depth up to four meters to facilitate vessel movement through those points where navigability fell drastically.
On May 5, Chittagong Port Authority and Bangladesh Navy signed a contract for the dredging after more than five years of suspension of the work.
As per the contract, they were supposed to start the work within 14 days of the signing, but authorities concerned said that due to monsoon they were taking time.
Under the project ‘Sadarghat-Bakalair Char Dredging’, the 2.5 kilometres long and 250 metre wide area from Sadarghat to Bakalia Char would be deepened 4 metres from the sea level by removing 43 lakh cubic metres of sludge.
By two dredgers — Safir-1 and Mithail-1 — the work should be completed within a year at a cost of Tk 258 crore 51 lakh. BN would do maintenance work of the dredging for next three years.
CPA officials said that they prepared the DPP for the new project in new name as there was another project named capital dredging under trial.
ECNEC approved the new project on December 20. After the implementation, the area would be developed like the tourist spot of Hatirjheel in Dhaka. Fish landing station would be set up to berth the fishing trawlers.
BN has appointed two firms — E Engineering and China Harbour — for dredging.
The removed sludge would be dumped at Haldarchar and Bakaliachar where the proposed Bangabandhu Maritime University would be set up.
After dredging the 400 metre lighter jetty would be functional and four ships would berth in the jetty.
Though the jetty area of CPA is situated within 4-5 kilometres of the ocean
estuary, CPA uses 25 kilometre area to the Kalurghhat Bridge in the upstream. So, CPA supervises the main part of the Karnaphuli River.
Unfortunately due to pollution and fresh encroachment, the river bed is filling up hampering activities of the Chittagong Port.
During a recent visit, Chaktai and Rajakhali canal were found to have narrowed down for lack of dredging for long. During ebb tide, people can go to the middle of the river walking. Sedimentation is heavy behind the Kalpolok residential area before Sadarghat Lighter jetty.
‘There is no alternative to dredging to save Karnaphuli. The authorities need to evict illegal occupants from the bank of the river and remove the Kaptai and Ichamati dam,’ said Chittagong University zoology professor Monzurul Kibria.
Seeking anonymity, CPA officials said though nearly two-thirds of the sand and mud were dredged up from the riverbed in 2013 by Malaysian contractor, the official concerned fear that the riverbed was now completely silted up and that they would have to start the dredging all over again.
Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry director Syed Sagir Ahmed alleged that for the last one year the authorities were talking about dredging but when they would actually start the work was the question.
CPA chief hydrographer Commander M Arifur Rahman told New Age that at first they would excavate the mouth of Chaktai and Rajakhali canal.
They would install 4.5 kilometre pipeline stretching from Sadarghat to Hamidchar to dump the sludge removed from the river.
‘In monsoon we’ll clean the canal mouth and after monsoon we’ll go for dredging as during rain pipe installation is tricky,’ he added.
Source: New Age
