Khairul Alam: Cox’s Bazar is the tourist town with the longest beach in the world. Although millions of tourists used to come here from India and abroad, there was no rail communication system in the district.
That wait is over now. Railways are starting soon in all the southern districts of the country. The first trial run of the train on the Dhaka-Cox’s Bazar railway will take place in September.
Several other major projects are being implemented for the development of Cox’s Bazar. If the projects are done in this district also, then the whole country will benefit by it.
Construction of the country’s longest runway at the seaside airport is nearing completion. This year, airplanes will touch the sea. Establishment of Single Point Mooring (SPM) with double pipeline project for transportation of oil on the hill island Maheshkhali.
Maheshkhali Island will become one of the country’s economic zones. The project, if taken up, would revolutionize fuel oil recovery.
Meanwhile, work has begun on Matarbari as the country’s deep-sea port. If this project is implemented, the port will be known as the Asian hub and as a communication hub for ships.
In addition, the 1,200 MW Matrabari coal-fired power plant has been built on 1,414 acres of land in Matrabari and Dhalghata unions near the port’s waterfront. Its first unit started production and added 600 MW of power to the national grid.
In addition, the tourism town of Cox’s Bazar is turning into a multidimensional development project through the construction of the Khorushkul Special Shelter Project, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Land-Based LNG Terminal, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Safari Park tour’s Bazar, Center for Marine Fisheries and Technology, Marine Aquarium.
In 2010, the government accepted the Dhaka-Cox’s Bazar railway project. Through this, rail communication will be started from Chittagong’s Dohjari to Cox’s Bazar.
In the first phase, a 100.831-kilometer single line dual gauge track is being constructed from Dohjari to Cox’s Bazar via Ramu. The iconic railway station is being constructed at Jhelongja in Cox’s Bazar Sadar. 18 thousand 34 crore 47 lakh rupees are being spent on the implementation of the project.
While it takes 11 hours to reach Cox’s Bazar from Dhaka by road, it takes only 6 hours to reach there by train. The cost of transportation will also be reduced.