THE three bottlenecks that have been causing so much pain to travellers on Dhaka-Chattogram highway are expected to be removed by June. The otherwise dual carriageway between the Port city and the capital shrinks to a single one at the Meghna and Gumti bridges. The Kanchpur bridge is technically a dual carriageway but its width is not adequate.
All of them are being built by Japanese firms and they are spending Tk 1,000 crore less than what was estimated. The construction of the new Kanchpur bridge on the Shitalakkhya is over and it might be opened early next month. The work of the new Meghna bridge is expected to be completed by April and the new Gumti bridge by June. The overpass on the east end of Kanchpur bridge is likely to be finished by March.
The work is an exemplary example of what happens when contracts are awarded based on merit and not as the result of any other consideration. The four Japanese contractors should be white listed and given more such relevant work as 95 percent of the work is done by them.
The cost of per km road construction in Bangladesh is among the highest in the world-ranging from 2.5 million USD to almost 11 million USD. Per km construction of railways around the world takes around Tk 12-30 crore, but in Bangladesh the cost stands at Tk 250 crore per km. The 6.15km Padma bridge will cost around Tk 30,000 crore, while the 9.15km Bhupen Hajarika bridge of India took Tk 1,150 crore.
Construction cost of per km Elevated Expressway Dhaka-Ashulia stands at Tk 700 crore, while the cost is Tk 250 crore in India, China, Malaysia and Hong Kong. In Vietnam the cost is Tk 205 crore. Regarding flyovers, the per kilometre construction cost of those in Bangladesh was Tk 150 crore to Tk 180 crore, whereas the cost was Tk 48 crore to Tk 88 crore in India and Tk 80 crore to Tk 90 crore in China and Malaysia.
The authorities concerned must see what the reasons are for the cost differentials between our projects and those of other countries to ensure that the scope for misutilization does not exist.
