Slow in underground electric cables works

Dhaka city in high fire risk

In this Dhaka city of bricks, stones, dust pollution and vehicles, the name of big problem is electricity. Dishes of telephone, internet and electricity wires by the windows or on the street have created a terrible situation. The reign of these transmission lines in all the ways including the alleys out of the house. Somewhere along the way, these tangled wires are hanging close to each other. Electric and street light poles are bent under the weight of braided wire in different places.
On the one hand, it is as risky as on the other hand, the whole city is losing its beauty. Although initiatives have been taken at various times, the capital is not getting rid of the garbage. The city-related institutions or organizations are not able to say when this crisis will be resolved.
In order to relieve the people of Dhaka from this situation, work is underway to draw electric lines under the ground. Following this, Dhaka Power Distribution Company-DPDC has started work on two projects to build a wireless Dhaka. Although there has been a slight slowdown in project work from the beginning. If you can’t finish the work on time, you may have to increase the budget.
Almost all the roads in Dhaka are now littered with cable TV, internet service, telephone lines and power lines. This wreckage can be a problem at different times. These sometimes became the cause of fires.
On January 1, work began to draw lines under the ground on both sides of the main road from Bangabhaban to Jahangir Gate for 19 km and from Gabtali to Azimpur for 10 km. Concerned parties say that as many overhead lines as there are on both sides of these roads, they will be made underground.
Asked about the progress of the project, DPDC Managing Director Bikash Dewan told, “We have started work on two projects.” Work in progress. We have already started work up to two kilometers from Jahangir Gate. We wanted to start this work earlier. But it did not happen because of Corona. On the other hand, Dhaka South City Corporation has not yet given permission for work in Dhanmondi area. All in all, the work is a bit slow.
We have taken up this project till 2024, we have time, he said. We will try to complete the work within the stipulated time. We now have about 1,200 kilometers of underground lines. We will take all our overhead lines underground.
The DPDC said that initially 22 RMUs, 19 LTBs and four kiosk transformers would be installed from Jahangir Gate to Farmgate. The cost of implementing this work is about 300 crore rupees. The project is being jointly implemented by CNTIC and SPITC, a Chinese contractor funded by DPDC.
Asked whether the budget for the project should be increased slowly, the managing director of DPDC said, “Why there is no problem in our budget at present.” If the implementation of the project is delayed, the budget will increase. However, we will try to speed up the work and finish the project on time.
In some areas of Dhanmondi, the work of drawing the line has not been approved yet, the managing director of DPDC said. Leaving the lake in the middle, we will work together on all the roads around it. Approval has not yet been received in these areas. Besides, we have got permission to work in the area of North City before Dhanmondi in the Azimpur project via Mirpur Road from Gabtali.
“We will further modify the action plan that we have submitted to the city corporation,” he said. We have gone abroad and seen the type of work. According to him, we will ‘modify’ the type of work. We hope to sit down with the Chinese company and finalize it soon. Project work is going on everywhere. We are meeting with all the stakeholders from time to time. At the same time all kinds of development work are also being done, so it is taking some time.
He tried to contact Saleh Amed, chief engineer of Dhaka South City Corporation, but he was not found.
Abu Naser, public relations officer of South City, told that new rules have been introduced in our South City since last year. No road can be dug within three years after carpeting. We sent letters to 26 companies last year, six of which responded. The City Corporation will also look into whether the plan given to us by DPDC is outdated, whether the plan needs to be changed or updated.
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid told that work was underway in Dhamandi. Work has begun. However, he did not say anything about the approval of the city corporation for setting up lines in different areas. His comment, City Corporation is not allowing, is delaying. It has been said. Let’s see, it will be done.
In 2009 it was decided to remove all the overhead wires and take them underground to free the Dhaka metropolis from the garbage. The power department also took initiative in 2010 to remove the hanging wire. At that time there was a meeting in the secretariat with all the parties concerned but, in the end, it did not see the light of day.