Tk 6.15 cr project to check unplanned growth of port city

The Detailed Area Plan (DAP) to be prepared for over an area of 1,01,217 acres of land, aims at making recommendations of Structure Plan (SP) and Urban Development Plan (UDP) of Chittagong Metropolitan Master Plan (CMMP) effective and operative, CDA sources said. The CMMP was prepared in 1995.

Ministry of finance and planning has already approved the project. Of the total amount, Tk 5, 50,52,000 will come as grant from the government and Tk 64,54,000 from the CDA fund.

Implementation period of the project was 3 years scheduled to start in July last year. But, the project is now likely to be completed by the middle of 2007if it starts this July.

DAP will provide detailed information about the development pattern showing location of roads, infrastructures, community facilities and other land uses after a detailed analysis of the areas identified in the SP and UDP.

Initially CDA proposed a DAP on 25,000 acres of land. Later, considering overall city growth and demands of the fast growing urban centre, planning commission advised CDA to take necessary steps to prepare a DAP for the area delineated in the SP and UDP.

Some officials of the CDA's planning wing will be deputed as counterpart of the Project Management Unit of DAP. Geographic Information System (GIS) specialists and operators will be recruited to provide necessary training to strengthen technical capability of CDA. Two town planners will also be recruited for the project.

The project objectives include providing a basic urban design; guideline for developers in public & private sectors; clarity and security regarding future development of inhabitants and investors; sustainable environment through conservation of hills, water bodies and adequate provision for park and open spaces.

CDA Chief Engineer Shah Mohammad Akhteruddin said that the objectives of the project should be implemented with the cooperation of the development agencies. So all the agencies should participate in the process of preparation of DAP.

In this regard, he said that the CMMP 1995 contained a set of plans in tune with the current planning practice and regarded urban management as a vital component of the development process. Coordination between CDA and its development partners, including Chittagong City Corporation (CCC), was a must for proper implementation in CMMP plans, he added.

Only a few of the recommendations made in the CMMP were implemented even nine years after it was prepared for lack of coordination, Akhteruddin said.