Sagar Biswas :
The cost of Dhaka-Chittagong 4-lane project has increased again, and for that reason an amendment was made to the project proposal [PP] for the fifth consecutive time to readjust the additional expenditure.
Road and Highways Department [RHD] recently sent the revised PP, along with an increasing amount of Tk 626.64 crore, to the Planning Commission for approval, officials said on Monday.
With the newest increase, the total cost of project will bump to Tk 3816.93 crore from its earlier amount of Tk 3190.29 crore. Not only that, the RHD also has sought more time for completion of the project, they added.
Source close to the Planning Commission told The New Nation yesterday that the revised project proposal would be placed for final approval before the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council [ECNEC] meeting scheduled to be held today [Tuesday].
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is also Chairperson of ECNEC, is expected to preside over the meeting.
Dhaka-Chittagong 4-lane, a 192.3km stretch of the highway, is being upgraded to four lanes, beginning from Daudkandi toll plaza and ending at Chittagong city gate.
The project, which began in 2006, was supposed to be finished in 2012. But tender corruption, political unrest, lack of building materials, removal of illegal land-grabbers, and other obstructions resulted in the project duration being extended several times.
When contacted, Project Director Engineer Ibne Hasan Alam yesterday said, “A revised PP will be placed at the ECNEC meeting to increase time and cost for completing the project perfectly. Hope, we will be able to finish the project within the timeframe.”
Explaining the progress of the project, the project director further said, “Out of ten road packages stretching 192.3 km, we have already completed 143 km pavement. It is 93.60 per cent of total work.”
RHD officials said, “Already the work of 20 bridges [out of 23] and 240 culverts [out of 242] have been completed. Seven km concrete road has been constructed in 16 important portions of the four-lane.”
Apart from it, six new bazaar areas have been included in the project. These are: Chhoto Darogar Hat, Sitakunda Bypass, Kadam Rasul Bazar, BMA Gate and Port Connecting Road.
Rigid pavements would be constructed in these roads by spending Tk 136.44 crore. Besides, additional Tk 1.29 crore would be spent for introducing safe traffic movement.
Last year, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said that the project – despite being a priority project – had faced tender cancellations twice and changes of project director 11 times. The minister also told a parliamentary watchdog body that his ministry would do everything possible to finish the project early. He previously told parliament that the project would be completed by December 2014.
The project was approved in 2005 with an approximate cost of Tk 2161 crore and its completion period was fixed from January 2006 to June 2012. But in first DPP [Development Project Proposal], the cost of the project was increased to Tk 2382.17 crore.
Later, the cost was further increased in a special DPP to Tk 2410.17 crore. In the third time, the cost of project was increased to Tk 3190.20 crore and timeframe was also extended to December, 2014.
