A tripartite agreement has been signed among the Chattogram Development Authority (CDA), Chattogram WASA and the Karnaphuli Residential Plot Owners Welfare Association (KRPOWA).
The agreement signing ceremony was held at the auditorium of the CDA building on Wednesday afternoon.
519 residential plots in the CDA implemented Karnaphuli residential area have been leased from CDA to various individuals and organisations. The concerned parties see this agreement as a historic progress in resolving the 33-year-long water crisis.
The agreement was signed at the auditorium of Cartogram CDA building on Wednesday afternoon.
CDA Chairman Engineer Md Nurul Karim presided over the agreement signing ceremony and Chattogram WASA Acting Managing Director (MD) Monowara Begum was present as the chief guest in the meeting. Senior Vice President Advocate Zia Habib Ahsan delivered the welcome speech on behalf of the association.
The participants in the meeting said that through the implementation of this agreement, a new horizon will be opened for resolving the 33-year-long water crisis in the CDA Karnaphuli Housing area.
CDA Chairman Engineer Md Nurul Karim said, "Our main goal in the urban planning of Chattogram is to improve the quality of citizen services. If the project is implemented according to the deadline, the citizens will be relieved from long-standing suffering. CDA will provide all-round cooperation in the implementation of this project. This is not just a formal agreement, but our commitment is that the plot owners of Karnaphuli Housing will directly benefit from its implementation."
Chattogram WASA MD Monowara Begum said, "Under the Bhandarjuri project, 519 plot owners are entitled to water connections. Initially, 5 million liters of water will be supplied and the connection work will start within three months of receiving the money.”
He said, "Our top priority is to ensure that the people of Chattogram are not deprived of basic services like water."
According to the agreement, each plot owner will have to pay a service charge of 40 thousand taka. Under the project, several civic amenities including expansion of water pipeline, development of roads and drainage system will be ensured.
The agreement was signed by CDA Secretary Rabindra Chakma, Special Magistrate Md. Nazrul Islam, Chief Engineer Kazi Hasan Bin Shams, State Officer Md. Alamgir Khan, Executive Engineer Md. Elias, and others on behalf of CDA, and Chief Engineer Maqsud Alam, Supervising Engineer Md. Mahabubul Alam, and others on behalf of WASA. Mozammel Haque, President of Karnaphuli Residential Area Welfare Association, and Mohammad Eyasin, General Secretary.
Present on behalf of the Plot Owners Association were Advisor Professor Dr. Imran Bin Yunus, Vice President Golam Wares, General Secretary Md. Yasin, Joint Secretary Saiful Huda, Finance Secretary Advocate Selim Chowdhury, Publicity Secretary Saifuzzaman Rafi, Advocate Ashish Kiran Das, Advocate KM Shantanu Chowdhury and others.
According to CDA sources, despite the design prepared for this project having facilities like schools, mosques, playgrounds, community centers and shops, no building has been constructed for a long time. Meanwhile, land has been leased to the Bangladesh Police for the construction of Karnaphuli Police Station cum Barracks and Chattogram WASA for the construction of a pump house.
After discussing with the leaders of the Plot Owners Association of the residential area regarding the non-construction of facilities in the said project, it was learned that the development of the project and construction of houses are being hampered due to lack of potable water. Therefore, as per the bilateral discussions between Chattogram Development Authority and Chattogram WASA and the decisions of the 463rd and 465th meetings of the CDA Board, a final decision was taken regarding the supply of potable water from the “Bhantarjuri” project under the supervision of Chattogram WASA in the said project.
As per the decision, it is necessary to pay the work price as deposit work to Chattogram WASA for the supply of potable water and in the tripartite discussions. Chattogram WASA agreed that the said water supply work will be completed by June 2026. Since the project in question has been completed a long time ago and the possession has been transferred in favor of the allottee, both the parties who signed the agreement have agreed to execute the agreement in the light of the terms and conditions, stating that the development charges will be paid by the lessees for the development of the utility facilities in the said residential area. Both the parties have executed this agreement in accordance with the appropriate rules.
