Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) Mayor Freedom Fighter Md. Rezaul Karim Chowdhury announced the operation to rescue the illegally occupied footpaths.
Chittagong city mayor, panel mayor, councilors, officials and representatives of various service organizations discussed the encroachment of the city's footpaths in the 36th general meeting of the CCC elected sixth council on Tuesday at the city's theater institute. CCC Mayor said in the chairman's speech in the meeting that the occupation of the sidewalks of the city has become unbearable for the people.
It cannot be that people cannot walk freely, cannot breathe free air. We have held meetings with various organizations concerned. Multifaceted measures will be taken, including the implementation of pay-parking, besides conducting a massive operation to rescue the encroached footpaths.
CCC Chief Executive Officer Sheikh Muhammad Touhidul Islam said, due to the election, our campaign operations were somewhat less. The operation will be conducted in full swing from next week. Abul Hashem, the mayor's private secretary, said about the operation, "I risked my life and rescued the footpath and road in Banglabazar. The salvage site was open for about two months. But then again that place has been vacant. For this reason, if we recover the space, if the concerned police stations do regular monitoring, then it is possible to keep the sidewalks and roads of the city open. We will clear the road from the station to fruit market (Falmondi) next week to implement the mayor's order. If necessary, we will evict the illegal occupants at any cost with the cooperation of all concerned including police-Ansar.
In the meeting, CCC Chief Engineer Rafiqul Islam Manik said that CCC work is to build roads, footpaths and drains. The cooperation of the police is necessary so that they are not confiscated. We are piloting pay-parking in Agrabad to decongest the city. There are 75,000 rickshaw licenses in the city, and another 20,000 licenses are under process. But there are more than 3 lakh rickshaws running. Initiatives will also be taken to stop rickshaws on the main roads of the city.
Regarding the CDA drainage project, the Mayor said that the work of the CDA drainage project is very slow. I have visited the project areas and found that soil has accumulated in various project areas including Chaktai Canal, Birja Canal. If this soil is not lifted, waterlogging will occur in the city this year as well. For this reason, the soil of the canals should be lifted before the rainy season.
ADC of the traffic department Md. Kazi Humayun Rashid said that everyone should work together to evict the hawkers. Currently, the sidewalks are completely occupied in some areas. As a result, many people have to walk on the road due to lack of space on footpaths, which increases accidents and traffic jams. Pedestrians are suffering due to insufficient zebra-crossing. Adequate zebra crossings will reduce traffic congestion and accidents. In the city, accidents are more common at junctions. If we can construct the intersections as planned, then the traffic management of the city will improve in the long run. Police currently require dumping stations to house all vehicles impounded for breaking the law. If CCC has a dumping station for such vehicles, it will reduce traffic congestion in the city and improve the management of impounded vehicles.
In the meeting, several councilors of CCC demanded coordination between various departments and the involvement of councilors in the implementation of the project. The Mayor said to the CCC engineering department that it is not possible to work for 2 months during the monsoon season. For this reason, progress in important infrastructure works must be ensured during the dry season itself.
Residents have complained that Councillors, Assistant Engineers, Deputy Assistant Engineers, Supervisors are not present during road construction and work. To ensure the quality of work, tenders should be issued on authority in consultation with ward councilors and work details should be displayed on signboards in the area during the work. So that people can be held accountable for the transparency of work.
Any contractor found guilty of substandard work will be fined, if necessary, the work order will be cancelled. If the work is of poor quality, the contractor will be dismissed if the work is left unfinished. The mayor said that he will ensure the completion of the project on time as he cancelled the work order and appointed a new contractor after the contractor of PC Road ran away.
Deputy Project Director Jashim Uddin said that the physical progress of the project titled "Different road development and important infrastructure development under Chittagong City Corporation including airport road" is 17 percent.
The meeting approved the minutes of the previous general meeting, the minutes of the tender committee and the minutes of the standing committee. Standing committee chairpersons presented the minutes of their respective standing committees. CCC secretary Khaled Mahmud, panel mayors, councilors and heads of departments and branches and representatives of various government agencies of the city were present in the meeting.
