The government is to take up a mega project involving Tk 3500 crore for construction of a 13.5-kilometer-long elevated expressway in the remote and isolated haor (wetland) area of Sunamganj to develop the rural economy.

The project is likely to be placed in the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) meeting soon.

Under the development programme, Dharmapasha, Tahirpur, Jamalganj and Diraiupazilas of the district will come under an improved communication system.

 The expressway will be constructed under the project ‘Rural Infrastructure Development in Haor Area, ’ and be implemented by the local government engineering department (LGED).

Primarily, the proposed cost of the project has been estimated at Tk 3,500 crore, a senior official of LGED said.

In the context of the project, LGED chief engineer Abdur Rashid Khan said, “Sunamganj is not like other places in Bangladesh. Most of the upazilas of this district are isolated due to haors or wetlands.”

In order to improve the communication system in these upazilas, projects have been undertaken for the construction of elevated expressways and other infrastructures, he added.

The project is in its infancy, he said while adding that it will be placed at the ECNEC meeting after further screening.

Planning Minister MA Mannan said, “People in the haor areas are neglected due to natural causes.”

The haor areas remain under water for six months a year, he said adding, “There is no other source of income besides paddy and fish in the areas.”

However, the present government is a haor-friendly government, he mentioned.

Mannan said that the Prime Minister has put forward many development projects for the haors at her  own initiative.

For this, we, and especially people of the haors are indebted to the Prime Minister, he added.

The planning minister said, “The construction of flyovers will signal new horizons for communication in haor  areas. Besides, haors will also be prosperous in the tourism industry.”

However, some work has been mentioned in the project DPP (Development Project Proposal) for the development of communication systems in the Haor region through the project.

In addition to the elevated expressway, 107 km of aesthetic roads will be constructed through the project.

28 kms of waterproof roads will be constructed. Even if these roads are submerged during the monsoon season, there will be no problem.

Besides, upazila submersible roads will be for 13 kilometers, all season union roads, 15 kilometers, 2,987 meters of bridge will be constructed on upazila roads and 685 meters on union roads.

There will be 775 meters of culverts on different roads.

The DPP of the flyover construction project in haors has been sent to the Planning Commission.

The Project Evaluation Committee (PEC) has also met with the DPP of the project.

The Planning Commission has given some instructions for the implementation of the project.

After maintaining all instructions, the project will be presented to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) for final approval.

The implementation period of the project has been fixed from the current time till June 2025.