Expansion works of Oxygen-Hathazari road held up for long. The photo was taken from Chowdhury Hat area. PHOTO: ANURUP KANTI DAS

The Roads and Highways Department (RHD), Chittagong took two and half years to partially complete construction of 3.9km out of 12.5km of the Oxygen-Hathazari four-lane road. The RHD constructed only one culvert and dug the roadside soil to expand the Oxygen-Hathazari section of Chittagong-Rangamati Highway.
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved the project on May 5, 2009 to complete the work by December, 2013.
RHD office sources said the government had allotted Tk 129 crore which is less than half of the fund required for the project. Tk 54 crore has allocated for land acquisition, shifting the utility services -- electric poles, gas lines and demolishing buildings for which it would be needed about Tk 300 crore, sources added.
Sources said the proposal for construction of the four lane road was made without evaluating the market price of land. They said a portion of the road went through Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) and Hathazari upazila areas. Price of the lands in those areas is costly but the government treated them in same scale which was obstacle to do the work smoothly, they added.
They said Tk 130 crore is needed for land acquisition in the city corporation area and about Tk 70 crore for Hathazari portion. Besides, the government did not allocate money for the lane of slow moving vehicles, they added.
The Ecnec approved the project without evaluating the cost and communication minister inaugurated the construction work on November 5 in 2010.
Sarwar Kamal, a resident of Hatahazari, said they were very happy after the work of four lanes began, thinking that it would reduce suffering. But it is very disappointing for them today as the project has become uncertain, he added.
Rana Priya Barua, executive engineer of Chittagong RHD, they sent a Revised Development Project Proposal (RDPP) of Tk 300 crore to the government in this regard.
He said they made the RDPP for land acquisition, shifting the utility services. ”The budget for construction work still remains the same”, he added.
Rana said they would construct the four-lane road on the government's lands if the RDPP is not approved which might create problem in two to three places and the proposal for lane for slow moving vehicles would be cancelled.
Mentioning the reason for delay in starting work at government lands, he said they could not do the construction work in roadside. They have already paid Tk 4.86 crore, out of Tk11.13 crore, to Power Development Board (PDB) to shift the electric poles from the roadside.
PDB assured them of shifting the electric poles as early as possible facilitating them to start the work in full swing within a short time, he added.
Oxygen-Hathazari road is one of the busiest regional highways in the country. Transports from Rangamati and Khagrachhari districts and Raozan, Hathazari and Nazirhat upazilas as well as Chittagong University use the road.
About 2,000 vehicles use the road daily while about 19,000 run through Sitakunda point on Dhaka-Chittagong highway, says a study.