Staff Reporter :The government of Bangladesh has signed a deal with a Chinese state-owned company for the construction of the much talked about two-lane tunnel underneath the Karnaphuli River in Chittagong.China will provide $705.80m and rest of the fund will come from the Bangladesh government exchequer.The tunnel would be linked with the proposed Asian Highway Network, which is supposed to establish road communications with neighbouring Myanmar and India.Road Transport and Bridges Secretary MAN Siddique and Chairman of China Communication Construction Company Ltd (CCCCL) Liu Qitao inked the deal on behalf of their respective sides.Minister for Road Transport and Bridges Obaidul Quader and Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng were present at the deal signing ceremony.The construction works of the 4.21km tunnel, which is the first-of-its-kind in Bangladesh, is expected to start by the end of 2015 and conclude in 2019.According to the proposal, the project cost will be around $1,005.80m. The CCCCL which conducted survey on four international tunnels and Padma Bridge revealed that the construction cost of the Karnaphuli tunnel might range from $770.43m to $1,806.17m.As per the survey, per kilometre cost of constructing the tunnel will be up to $103.67m. Per kilometre cost of Canada’s Ottawa Tunnel will be $143.50m, Japan’s Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line $361m, China’s Dalian-Yantai Tunnel $146m and Yellow River Tunnel $82.90m, added the survey.The Karnaphuli tunnel will attract downtown population in the east side and promote “One City and Two Towns” improvement model adopted by China’s largest city Shanghai.The tunnel is also essential because heavy siltation on the Karnaphuli riverbed is a main problem for proper functioning of Chittagong Port and also for building new bridges.
