Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is set to join an event marking partial end to the construction works of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel or Karnaphuli Tunnel and announce the completion of the tunnel’s south side on Saturday.

The construction work of the southern end of the tunnel has been completed entirely, while 99 percent work of the tunnel’s northern end has been finished.

The PM is expected to join the event organized by the Bridges Division virtually at about 10:00am.

Ahmad Kaykaus, Chief Secretary of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), made the announcement while talking to journalists at the Patenga End of the tunnel on Friday.

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“The Bridges Division is going to arrange a program marking the completion of the tunnel’s southern part. The PM will attend this program virtually. We hope that the entire tunnel will be opened for vehicular movement by the end of next January,” said Kaykaus.

According to project sources, two 5.35km approach roads are being constructed on the eastern and western sides of the tunnel.

The length of the tunnel is 3.32km.

“As of yet, the overall progress of the project is 94 percent. It’ll take two more months to complete the rest of the works,” said Mohammad Harunur Rashid, Project Director of the Karnaphuli Tunnel Project.

The tunnel is being built at a cost of Tk 10,374 crore. It’s the first tunnel in South Asia which is being built under a river.

Through Karnaphuli tunnel, the government is aiming to make Chattogram “One City, Two Towns” like China’s Shanghai.

China is providing all the technical and financial assistance to the project. Currently, firefighting, lighting and control management systems are being installed inside the tunnel. Besides, 52 irrigation pumps are also being installed so that rising water level during monsoon and natural disasters doesn’t block the tunnel, said project officials.

The project is being implemented by Bangladesh Bridges Authority (BBA).

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Two tubes adjoining the tunnel have been built under the Karnaphuli river. Lights, pumps and drainage systems are being installed in the tunnel simultaneously while A 772m flyover has also been built.

At present, the construction of a toll plaza at the tunnel’s Anwara End is going on in full swing.

Project officials are hoping that the Karnaphuli tunnel will bring about revolutionary changes to the road communication landscape between Dhaka-Chattogram-Cox’s Bazar. Chattogram’s Anwara has already started to witness a change in its fortune through the setting up of new industries on both sides of the tunnel’s approach road in the upazila.

The Karnaphuli tunnel will add new dimensions to the tourism and industrial sectors of the country, project officials said.

The construction works of the tunnel were inaugurated by PM Hasina on February 24, 2019.