Govt to conduct fresh feasibility study on Ashuganj ICT

---

Syful Islam | Published: August 06, 2016 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

---

 The government is going for a fresh feasibility study of the Ashuganj inland container terminal (ICT) planned as a sub-regional gateway, and fears grow about construction-cost overruns for inordinate delays.    
Officials said the project couldn't take off even after a long lapse since planning six years before due to dispute over land and some other factors.
 The start-up delay is supposed to raise construction cost of the terminal which will be mainly used for sub-regional trade, they added.
 The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) will build the terminal with funding under the second line of credit (LoC) offered by neighbouring India.
 "Due to alignment change of the proposed terminal, increased area of privately owned land has to be used instead of public land.
"Besides, the drawing, designing, and cost assessment have to be done over again. So, we have decided to conduct a fresh feasibility study of the project," BIWTA chairman Mozammel Haque told the FE.
 Indian public-sector entity M/s WAPCOS conducted a feasibility study on construction of the terminal. Now the WAPCOS will be asked to conduct the study again taking the present context into consideration, he said.  The project was supposed to be started in January 2011 and end by June 2013. As the project had not taken a shape by then, its tenure was extended until June 2014.
Meantime, the Indian company, WAPCOS, in April 2015 submitted Master Plan with Detailed Project Report (DPR) after conducting feasibility study.  
 The DPR said 30.85 acres of land would be needed to build the ICT and the total construction cost would stand at Tk 4.61 billion.
 Officials of BIWTA along with a technical team of India had selected a site under Ashuganj upazila for the proposed terminal where out of total 30.85 acres of land, 4.50 acres are owned by food department, 3.85 acres by Bangladesh Railway, 3.19 acres by Ashuganj Fertiliser Chemical Company Ltd and the rest 19.31 acres are privately owned.
 Sources said the food department, Bangladesh Railway, and Fertiliser Company at first stage had agreed to provide the lands for construction of the terminal.  After getting the green signal from them the design, drawing, and cost assessment of the terminal were done accordingly.
 However, the food department and Bangladesh Railway early this year informed the ministry of shipping (MoS) that they would not be able to provide their lands for construction of the ICT as they are building second Bhairab bridge and a food silo respectively at those places.
 Later, the MoS formed a technical team headed by its additional secretary Rafiqul Islam to identify two alternative areas to build the terminal. The team, after visiting the area, submitted a report to the ministry in April this year, where 6.355 acres of privately owned land in addition to previous 19.31 acres, and an additional 2.98 acres of land from the fertiliser company are included.
 The total land area for the ICT construction has now increased to 31.835 acres after excluding the lands of food department and Bangladesh Railway from the project area.
 "We have to change the alignment of the establishment though the terminal will be built on the bank of Meghna river. As the land size has increased, cost of the project may also rise," said the BIWTA chairman.
 A senior MoS official told the FE that alongside facilitating sub-regional trade the terminal will also facilitate industrialisation in Narsingdi, Kishoreganj, Mymensingh, Brahmanbaria, Comilla and greater Sylhet districts.
 It will also make easier movement of containers through the plying of inland container vessels which will encourage establishment of new industrial units.
 Bangladesh and India agreed to construct the ICT at Ashuganj during then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Dhaka visit in September 2011.
 India is eager for construction of the container port to facilitate transportation of goods to Agartala, the capital of the north-eastern Indian state of Tripura, which is only 50 kilometres off Ashuganj.
     syful-islam@outlook.com