Bridges Div seeks addl Tk 14b for acquiring private land

FHM Humayan Kabir | Published: September 23, 2017 22:40:04

The Bridges Division has sought extra funds worth Tk 14 billion for acquisition of land for the Padma Multipurpose Bridge (PMB) project to dispose of dug-out spoils.
The amount is in addition to current allocation of Tk 12.98 billion on this account, officials said Saturday.
Officials said the Division recently sought the additional fund which is equivalent to 4.86 per cent of the total cost --- Tk 287.93 billion --- of the Padma Bridge project.
Meanwhile, insiders said, despite having a large area of 'khas' land across the Padma River, the proposal for additional fund for acquisition of private land is an unusual step on the part of the Bridges Division.
The Bangladesh Bridges Authority (BBA), the agency responsible for implementing the Padma Bridge, can dump or dispose of spoils in even some privately-owned low-lying unutilised lands. Many land owners will be happy to see their land filled up with spoils and sands from the Padma Bridge project works, said some project insiders.
The Bridges Division proposes to acquire 1167.98 hectares of land at Munshiganj, Shariatpur and Madaripur areas, the project site of the Padma Bridge with the additional fund it has sought from the Planning Commission.
Earlier, the BBA acquired 1,530.54 hectares of land at the project site at a cost of Tk 12.987 billion to dispose of dug-out spoils.
"The siltation is one of the key reasons for filling the earmarked lands.
So, more lands are required to be acquired for spoil disposal," a senior Bridges Division official told the FE.
A Road Transport and Bridges ministry official said with the additional Tk 14 billion proposed fund, the BBA will spend total Tk 26.99 billion, 8.57 per cent of the total project cost for land acquisition only.
"The total cost for land acquisition is comparatively higher than other similar projects in Bangladesh," a senior Ministry official said requesting anonymity.
The government in January 2016 revised the Padma Bridge project for the second time hiking the estimated cost to Tk 287.93 billion for completing it by December 2018.
In 2007, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the Padma Bridge Project with an estimated cost of Tk 101.61 billion. In 2011, it revised the project for the first time, raising its cost to Tk 205.07 billion.
Meanwhile, a Planning Commission official said they are scrutinising the proposal of the Bridges Division.
"We will place the demand for additional fund before the ECNEC soon. If the Council allows extra fund allocation for the project we will give it. But the Bridges Division must include the hike at the time of next revision of the project," he told the FE.
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