Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asked the authorities concerned to take plans of development projects in such a way that one becomes complementary to another.
“Once plans (of development projects) are taken, they should be integrated and complementary to each other,” she said while addressing a programme regarding the Dhaka Elevated Expressway at the Prime Minister’s Office in Dhaka on Sunday (Feb 23), reports BSS.
After witnessing a power-point presentation on the realignment of the Hatirjheel part of Sonargaon-BUET Link of the expressway, the premier gave her consent to the newly designed alignment, which will connect Palashi via Kataban through the periphery of the Hatirjheel Lake.
She added, “This is okay. You can implement it (the proposal of the realignment of Hatirjheel part of Sonargaon-BUET Link of the Dhaka Elevated Expressway)."
The Link will benefit dwellers in old Dhaka city and Dhanmondhi as it was estimated that some 20 percent of traffic vehicles enter through the link.
In the earlier proposal, the alignment of the link was proposed through the middle of the Hatirjheel Lake and the Panthakunja. But, the premier asked the authorities to redesign the proposal protecting the lake and Panthakunja.
In this context, the premier said that once there was a big jheel (water body) at Motijheel, but Pakistani ruler Ayub Khan had destroyed it.
She also asked the authorities concerned to take development plans by protecting the water bodies particularly the ponds.
Noting that the Dhaka city is being developed in an unplanned way, the premier said, “But, we are giving all the facilities of the city to the villages. So, the migration of the village people towards the capital city has been decreasing.”
Criticising the mentality of the government officials to stay in the city, the premier said, “The government officers now want to stay in the city. Once they are transferred, the officers go to their workstations keeping their families in city.”
In this regard, she said the schools, colleges and other organisations of the districts had earlier witnessed developments, as the ministers, lawmakers and government officers stayed in the districts.
Bitterly criticising the mentality of the people to violate the traffic rules, she called upon all to follow the traffic rules.
“People are crossing the roads though there are the foot-over bridges and underpasses while the passersby and the drivers also do not follow the rule of zebra crossing,” she added.