Ctg bus terminal project stuck in land acquisition delay

Infographic: TBS

The Chattogram City Corporation is yet to start the construction of an intra-district modern bus terminal at Kulgaon Baluchara owing to a delay in land acquisition. The deadline will expire in June next year.

The Tk297 crore terminal work was approved in 2018 by the National Economic Council (Ecnec) for buses operating on 32 routes of the northern areas of Chattogram, such as Hathazari, Nazirhat, Fatikchhari, Raozan and Rangunia.

The city authorities subsequently paid Tk130 crore to the Chattogram district administration for the acquisition of around 8 acres of land. 

But as the district administration failed to hand over the land even in four years, the city corporation said it could not start the terminal construction.   

According to the Chattogram intra-district bus owners' association, around 400-500 buses make trips on the 32 routes per day, transporting more than 1 lakh commuters on a regular basis.

"We park the buses on the roads now as there is no permanent terminal," Mohammad Shahjahan, organising secretary of the association, told The Business Standard.  

He agreed that the vehicles parked on the main roads are one of the major causes for traffic jams in the city, but he pinned the blame on the authorities for the problem.   

"It is always said that there is no passenger service in intra-district buses. In fact, there is no infrastructure for us to provide passengers with the services they deserve. As there is no permanent terminal, the bus drivers do not get enough rest between the trips, which contributes to the risk of accidents."

After the Bahaddarhat Bus Terminal in 1993, no new bus terminal has been constructed in Chattogram in the last 30 years. In the meantime, rapid urbanisation has led to a massive increase in city traffic. 

In 2015, the then Chattogram mayor AJM Nashir Uddin took the initiative to construct a modern bus-truck terminal in Kulgaon Baluchara area of ​​the city. The terminal work was approved by the Ecnec in 2018 under a project, titled "Road Network Development and Construction of Bus-Truck Terminal".  

The district administration said the site earmarked for the terminal has four types of land – residential, commercial, agricultural and low-lying lands. 

The owners were offered compensation according to the category of the lands. But some owners of low-lying plots demanded compensation at the rate for agri lands.

Usually, compensation for farmland is three times higher than for the low-lying category. 

"The mayor inspected the designated site recently. In light of the demand of the owners, he has written to the district administration to consider the low-lying plots as farmland," Abu Saleh, project director and an engineer of the city corporation, told The Business Standard. 

Chattogram Additional Deputy Commissioner (Land Acquisition) Masud Kamal said the letter from the mayor was received last week.

"We have notified the higher authorities. The matter will be finalised soon," he told The Business Standard.