DHAKA, Oct 25, 2023 (BSS) - Transport in the port city Chattogram will get a huge boost as the country's first Bangabandhu tunnel, running beneath the Karnaphuli River in Chattogram, is going to be opened on October 28. 
 
As Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to inaugurate the tunnel on October 28, the authorities concerned are busy completing all related works for the opening of the 9.1 km long underwater tunnel, the first of its kind in South Asia that will ease communications between Dhaka, Chattogram and Cox's Bazar.

"We're now completing preparation for the opening of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel," Project Director (PD) Md Harunur Rashid Chowdhury told BSS today.
 
According to project details, the tunnel turning Chattogram into "one city with two towns" was constructed beneath the Karnaphuli River.
 
The multilane tunnel will not only directly connect the Chattogram Port with Anwara upazila but also will connect Cox's Bazar with Chattogram.
 
Two-tube tunnel having 35 feet wide and 16 feet in height has been constructed within an 11-metre gap so that heavy vehicles can pass through the tunnel easily.
 
The length of the tunnel is 3.40 kilometres with an approach road of 5.35 kilometres alongside a 740-metre bridge linking the main city, port and western side of the river with its eastern side.
 
On February 24, 2019, Bangabandhu's daughter Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the boring work of the first tunnel tube.
 
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Chinese President Xi Jinping jointly laid the foundation stone of the Bangabandhu Tunnel on October 14, 2016. China Communications Construction Company Ltd worked as the contractor for the project.
 
The tunnel will connect the proposed Asian Highway with Dhaka-Chattogram-Cox's Bazar Highway along with reducing the distance by 40 km. Vehicles in this tunnel will run at a speed of 80 km per hour, it said.
 
Bangabandhu Tunnel is being built at a cost of Taka 10,374 crore. The tunnel project is being implemented with joint funding from the governments of Bangladesh and China. The Exim Bank of China is giving a loan of Taka 5,913 crore with a two per cent interest rate while the Bangladesh government is funding the remaining portion.