Staff Reporter :
The circular bus service has been introduced in the Hatirjheel project area to help the visitors, who will go there for recreation, reach one point from another.
Housing and Public Works Minister Engineer Mosharraf Hossain inaugurated the bus service on Wednesday morning.
“Hatirjheel will be the city’s entertainment core. The Prime Minister has asked for further beautification of the project area, and setting up of an opera house as well,” Engineer Mosharraf Hossain said.
The Hatirjheel Lake will gradually be connected to Gulshan, Baridhara and Banani lakes, the minister said.
Public Works Secretary Moinuddin Abdullah and RAJUK Chairman JM Joynal Abedin, among others, attended the function.
Initially four minibuses will be in the service for the passengers at 10 points of the area. Bus tickets will be available on six counters at Rampura, Madhubagh, FDC intersection, Boubazar, Shooting Club and Merul Badda.
Taka 10 is the minimum fare from one counter to another, said Jahangir Alam, an official of HR Transport Ltd. A passenger will have to pay Tk 15 to reach Karwanbazar from Rampura and Tk 30 for a ride around the project area.
The bus company will pay the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) Tk 1,80,000 a month, said Jamal Akter Bhuiyan, Director of the Hatirjheel Project.
The renovation of Hatirjheel, formerly a sewage canal, began in 2007 to facilitate connectivity between the East and the West Dhaka and to help handle traffic congestion and water-logging in the city.
Though the project was opened to public in 2013, there was no public transport on the 16km of roads inside it.
Some unauthorised microbuses have started transporting people to different destinations inside the project area.
But those were stopped in November after media reports to the dismay of the commuters from adjacent areas.
