Ctg's Karnaphuli residential project to get water supply after 30 years

Infographic: TBS

Highlights:

• Wasa to connect project with Bhandaljuri Water Treatment Plant
• Tk7.5 crore project cost to be initially borne by CDA
• Each plot owner to pay Tk50,000 within six months
• No buildings constructed due to lack of basic utilities
• Plot owners expect approval for six to eight-storey buildings

After more than three decades, the Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) is preparing to ensure water supply to its first housing project—Karnaphuli Residential Area—bringing an end to a long-standing deadlock and paving the way for housing development.

Potable water will be supplied from the Chattogram Wasa's Bhandaljuri Water Treatment Plant. If implementation proceeds smoothly, the 519 plot owners in the 51-acre project area may receive water connections within the next couple of months.

According to sources in Chattogram Wasa and CDA, approximately Tk7.5 crore will be needed to install the water supply line from the treatment plant to the residential area.

The CDA will initially bear the cost, while each plot owner is required to pay Tk50,000 to the CDA within the next six months.

"Pipelines will be laid under the Moijartek Kalarpole Bridge in Karnaphuli upazila to supply water to the project," said Mohammad Mahbubul Alam, project director of the Bhandaljuri Water Treatment Plant and supervising engineer at Chattogram Wasa.

"Construction will begin once we receive the CDA's payment order. After the water supply is ensured, building construction activity will hopefully begin, and demand will gradually rise. We estimate that daily demand could reach five million litres. We have also requested land from the CDA for a pump house," he added.

The decision to implement the water supply was finalised on 15 April following discussions between the CDA and Wasa, which began at a CDA board meeting on 21 January. Chattogram Wasa subsequently issued a Tk7.5 crore demand note.

CDA Chairman Engineer Md Nurul Karim said, "Since the project was completed over 30 years ago, there is no scope for new allocation in this sector. The plot owners have agreed to bear the cost. Initially, CDA will pay Wasa, and each plot owner will reimburse Tk50,000 within six months. The long-standing deadlock is finally ending."

The CDA launched the Karnaphuli Residential Project in 1992 on the southern bank of the Karnaphuli River in the Moijartek area to promote planned housing outside the city. In 1994, plots were allocated to 519 individuals.

However, due to the lack of civic amenities, including water supply, no major development has taken place in the area since then. The project has remained largely abandoned, causing financial hardship to plot owners. One-third of them have reportedly passed away in the intervening years.

The area, spread across about 51 acres, still has no boundary wall, and the brick roads have deteriorated due to overgrown tree roots. Only a few small houses exist, with allegations of drug-related activities in the vicinity. Locals have attributed the absence of residential development primarily to the prolonged water crisis.

In 2004, the CDA, along with the Ministry of Housing and Public Works and the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, requested Chattogram Wasa to supply potable water to the area as a deposit work. Wasa responded that it had no water supply project at that time, but said priority would be given if such a project were taken up in future.

The Bhandaljuri Water Treatment Plant was eventually initiated in 2019 to supply water to several industrial zones on the south bank of the Karnaphuli and salt factories in Patiya. Built at a cost of Tk1,992 crore, the facility has the capacity to produce 60 million litres of water daily.

Advocate Zia Habib Ahsan, senior vice-president of the Karnaphuli Residential Area Plot Owners Association, said, "Our long-standing crisis is going to be resolved. Applications for building construction will begin once the water supply is in place. The CDA has informed us that permission will be given for six to eight-storey buildings. It will be developed as a green residential area."