Chandpur: Extensive development work has been carried out in the Chandpur district headquarters, a historic port city situated at the confluence of three rivers, under the municipal corporation, and several ongoing development projects are in progress.
The present municipal council has kept the development work uninterrupted to embellish this first-grade tourist potential city. Particularly, under the leadership of Mayor Mo. Jillur Rahman, the current council has completed development projects worth around 700 million taka in the last three years.
The Mayor has announced that development work amounting to 1 billion taka will be completed by January of the coming year. The city will be adorned as a tourist center with high potential during the elected term. Several projects, including road construction, drainage, walkways, and space for markets, have already been visible in the planning.
It has been learned from officials related to the municipal engineering department in Chandpur that the current Mayor, elected in 2020, has cleared outstanding salaries of employees and staff amounting to 70 million taka within six months of taking office. Currently, there is a salary hike. Outstanding bills of 500 million taka for electricity have been paid, and expenditure has been curtailed.
Road and drainage issues were the most distressing. Already, 250 million takas has been spent on road, drainage, and footpath construction from self-funding. Further development work is in progress.
During a tour of the city, it has been observed that significant roads, including Bangabandhu Road, Basinda Kabir Hossain Road, Mission Road, Kalabari Shapath Chottor, Shaheed Muktijoddha Road, Cumilla Road, Bangabandhu Road, Haji Mohsin Road, and JM Sengupta Road, have undergone renovation work. Several road development projects, including Abdul Karim Patwari Road and New Truck Roads, are underway. Simultaneously, extensive work is being done to improve roads, especially on both sides, with walkways and space for walks.
Kabir Hossain, a resident of Bangabandhu Road in the city, mentioned that the Mayor is highly commendable for his courageous initiative to improve most of the narrow roads in the city. This endeavor will play a vital role in resolving traffic congestion. No previous Mayor has taken the initiative for road improvement.
The Mayor said, “What we are doing now is the practical implementation of our electoral manifesto. The work we are doing to create a potential tourism area, that is, to beautify the city, is being carried out. We will move forward by considering the history and tradition of this municipal corporation. Nearly 700 million taka worth of development work has been completed. I can confidently say that by January of the coming year, development work worth 1 billion takas will be completed. We have done so much development work in the last 10-15 years. We have identified areas that were lagging behind and not developing. Because without providing facilities, we cannot collect taxes. I hope, with everyone’s cooperation, the work of our council will be completed within our term.”
