The foundation stone of Chinese Special Economic and Industrial Zone (CSEIZ) and Karnaphuli River Tunnel are likely to be laid on October 14. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Chinese President Xi Jinping will lay the stone jointly on the day. The Chinese President Xi Jinping will arrive in Bangladesh on a two- day visit on October 14. The foundation laying will be held through video conferencing from the capital.China is financing the two mega projects involving Taka 36,000 crore. Out of the amount, Taka 20,000 crore would be spent for building a tunnel under the River Karnaphuli, keeping Taka 16,000 crore for the Special Economic and Industrial Zone. The construction works of the two projects are expected to begin in 2017 and to be completed in 2020.Meanwhile, the Cabinet Purchase Committee has approved the consultant firms for consultancy of the construction of the Karnaphuli tunnel on September 7 last. The firm has been appointed at Taka 291 crore. The construction work of the 3.5 kilometre- long tunnel at a cost of Tk 8,446.64 crore would be completed within four years and a new township would be developed on the other side of the Karnaphuli River after the tunnel is built.Government purchase committee has approved the Chinese firm, China Communication Construction Company Ltd (CCCC) on December 23 in 2015 for construction of the tunnel.Besides, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the much-hyped multilane road tunnel project under the Karnaphuli River involving Tk 8,446.64 crore on November 24 last. The approval was given at the ECNEC meeting held at the NEC conference room with ECNEC Chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.Out of the total cost of Tk 8,446.64 crore, the government will provide Tk 3,647.20 crore while the rest Tk 4,799.44 crore will come from China as project assistance. The project is part of a plan to strengthen the role of Chittagong as the centre of communications system, develop the communications system of Dhaka-Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar national highway, create a link with the Asia Highway Network, improve the communications system on both sides of the Karnaphuli River, lessen the pressure of traffic over the two existing bridges, and build One City Two Town in light with Shanghai and Hong Kong.Bangladesh Bridges Authority under the Road Transport and Bridges Ministry will implement the project by June 2020. Earlier in June last year, the Road Transport and Bridges Ministry signed a deal with a Chinese firm, China Communication Construction Company Ltd (CCCC), for the construction of a two-lane tunnel under the Karnaphuli River. The length of the proposed tunnel will be 3.40 kilometres with an approach road of 4.89 kilometres alongside 800 metres of bridges linking the main city, port and western side of the Karnaphuli along with the heavy industry-prone eastern side of the river. The tunnel is also considered essential because heavy siltation on the Karnaphuli River bed has been a main problem for proper functioning of Chittagong Port and also for building new bridges. The tunnel will also create scopes for establishing newer industries on the eastern side of the river.The tunnel could later be linked with the proposed Asian Highway Network, which is supposed to establish road communications with neighbouring Myanmar and India.Meanwhile, during the Bangladesh premier’s 2014 Beijing visit, the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on building the tunnel. The country’s first-ever tunnel is designed to make Chittagong into a One City Two Towns like Chinese mega city Shanghai. The multilane tunnel route will pass through the river close to Navy College on one side and Korean Export Processing Zone (KEPZ) and Karnaphuli Fertiliser Company (KAFCO) on the other. The tunnel will cut the road distance between Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar, apart from facilitating the heavy traffic on Dhaka-Chittagong Highway entering the port city to go to other parts of Chittagong division.The tunnel will also connect Chittagong Port and Anowara Upazila and is expected to ease the port city’s communication with Cox’s Bazar and particularly the traffic on two bridges over the Karnaphuli River. Chinese Special Economic and Industrial Zone will be developed in Anowara upazila on 774 acres of land to meet the growing domestic and global demands for Bangladeshi products. On completion, the industrial park will accommodate around 371 industrial units. BEZA already signed a MoU with a Chinese company for developing the CSEIZ at Anowara Upazila of the district.The proposed site of the zone is 39 kilometres from Chittagong port, 28 kilometres from Chittagong city and 46 kilometres from Shah Amanat International Airport.
