BSS, Rajshahi :
Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) has planned a Taka 173crore project with the main thrust of building the city sustainable and civic-friendly.
Under the project, the existing roads and drainages will be developed through various infrastructure development works like road, drain and culvert.
“We will construct 132.37-kilomter new roads and develop and widen the existing roads through overlie to free the city from traffic congestion,” said Ashraful Haque, chief engineer of the RCC. The proposed project has provisions of constructing 49.21-kimoleter concrete and cross drain to remove the existing water logging problem.
For the sake of making pedestrian movement safe, 19.50-kilomter footpaths will be constructed under the project. More than 2.30-kilometer protection wall besides the roads will be maintained in all 30 wards.
Earth-dumping works on surrounding roads of city haats and streets and lighting works on its 4.23-kimoleter road will be done. Besides, 4.40-kilometer northwest part belongs to the city corporation near the Rajshahi University railway station will be developed under the project, added the RCC engineer.
The city has now become a mass-density area amidst onrushing and migration of huge population from the nearby areas.
The migrated people are residing in the comparatively less-developed areas than the developed ones creating a huge need of new more roads and drainages.
Upon its successful implementation, the project will contribute a lot towards enhancing productivity and improving overall living and livelihood condition of the city.
Referring to aspects of the new project, Prof Shirin Sufiya Khanom said there should be appropriate measures of building the city in a planned way besides making environmentally sound so that it can cope with the abnormal situation of environmental degradation in the wake of rushing huge people to the city every year.
Promoting environmental health services like solid waste, medical waste, food and water safety and municipal financial reformation through enabling public private partnership, citizens participation, gender responsive and pro-poor targeting should be given priority.
To this end, construction of sanitary landfills for solid waste management, modern slaughterhouse, food laboratory and training center has become an urgent need, Child Specialist Prof Dr A B Siddiqui added.
Besides, improving the public and environmental health conditions in the city by strengthening institutional capacity and improving financial sustainability is very vital.
Prof Siddiiqui, former principal of Rajshahi Medical College, said all the government and non-government organizations concerned should work together for supplementing the government efforts to reduce child mortality and morbidity.
This could be achieved through reducing the prevalence of water and food borne diseases.
