The Sylhet Central Bus Terminal in the city’s Kadamtali area is likely to be inaugurated in June to ease the suffering of the residents.
Built on a six-acre land at a cost of around Tk63 crore with World Bank funding, the terminal will be a stunning example of modern architecture, said Nur Azizur Rahman, chief engineer of Sylhet City Corporation (SCC).
The project is being constructed by Dali Constructions, Rahman added.
The six-storeyed bus terminal complex with a brick-red modern structure includes several facilities with a capacity of accommodating 15,000 travellers in its waiting lounges at once.
The bus departure and arrival system was designed like airports with different gates, so the paths stay clear for the vehicles.
Construction workers said that the entire terminal has been divided into three parts. The length of the departure building located in Part-1 (departure building) is 350 feet, and Part-2 (arrival building) is around 300 feet.
The departure building or Part-1 has a large hall with 970 seats for passengers with 48 bus bays.
There is also a 30-seat VIP room, 30 ticket counters, and a prayer room. Around six washrooms were also constructed for men, women, and people with physical disabilities.
Under-construction Sylhet Central Bus Terminal Dhaka TribuneThere will also be restaurants, food courts, breastfeeding zones, and medical facilities for travellers.
The arrival building also has the same amount of facilities as the departure building.
Although both the buildings were separated by Part-1 and Part-2, the whole structure was connected through a corridor which makes the buildings interconnected.
The Terminal Operations and Management Office is housed on the fifth floor along with a security control room, CCTV monitoring room, police rooms, and tourist offices for the safety of the passengers.
A multipurpose welfare centre is also set up in Part-3 at the back of the terminal for meetings and programs for the drivers and owners of the vehicles. A green zone was also set up at the site.
Helal Uddin, the senior site engineer of Dali Construction, said that every work on the project is being done with utmost care. “The steels on the roof were brought from Taiwan, and the Iron bars for sterile structures have been brought in from China. We have tested every material at Buet.”
The terminal was designed by Subrata Das, Robin Dey and Mohammad Jasim Uddin, three assistant professors in the Department of Architecture at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (Sust).
Subrata Das said the inspiration behind the design was Sylhet’s Assamese-style heritage houses, and Ali Amjad's Clock in Sylhet city. Hence, they were specifically looking for red roof sheets for the structure to match their planned design.
Tawfiq Box Lipon, councilor and panel mayor of Ward-27 said that they have been working to formulate several policies for operating the bus terminal smoothly.
