CCC to build underpass with escalator at Bahaddarhat

The Chattogram City Corporation has initiated construction of an escalator-equipped underpass at the port city’s Bahaddarhat intersection at a cost of Tk 12 crore.
The underpass will allow pedestrians cross the busy intersection safely.
According to sources at CCC’s engineering department, the underpass will be 41.2 metre in length, 10 metre in width and four metre high, with a staircase and an escalator on each of the two sides.
There will be shops inside the underpass on both sides to rehabilitate hawkers, each with 2.75 sq metre of space. The walkway inside the underpass will be 15 feet wide.
Design Planning and Management Consultants Limited completed the design of the underpass after six months of feasibility study, said the officials.
Contacted, Mozaffar Ali Mamun, engineer of DPM, said, “Around 1,500 people cross the intersection every hour amid risk of accidents, including many patients and elderly individuals. The underpass will ensure their safety while crossing the intersection.”
Many locals lauded the initiative. “We face difficulty to cross the wide, busy intersection. We have long been demanding construction of a foot over-bridge at the crossing. The underpass is also a good solution to the problem,” said Ahmed Hussain, a resident at Bahaddarhat area.
CCC chief engineer Shahin-ul-Islam Chowdhury said constructing foot bridge at Bahaddarhat intersection is not possible due to a flyover there, so CCC initiated to build an underpass instead.
“Tender was floated in this regard in April and we are now evaluating the tenders that have been submitted. The construction will begin soon,” he added.