An enhanced cost of Tk 3.3 billion has been estimated to develop rail links between the multibillion-dollar Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant and two seaports, officials said.
The railways will be used for carrying the project's equipment and raw materials to the site at Iswardi in Pabna.
The estimated cost is three times higher than the initial estimate submitted by Bangladesh Railway last year.
Sources said BR authorities increased the cost after a feasibility study conducted by a consultant recently.
They said the study proposed the cost for establishing dual-gauge rails from both Chittagong and Mongla seaports as one port has broad-gauge and another meter-gauge line.
The officials said the BR had already sent a proposal to the Ministry of Science and Technology through its ministry to develop the rail link as deposit work with the request to incorporate the changes into the development project proposal (DPP).
The government has taken the initiative to build the country's first nuclear power plant at Roopur in Paksey union, some 200 kilometres northwest of Dhaka, at a cost of US$ 12.65 billion. The cost was, however, sharply increased into this figure from around US$4 billion estimated earlier.
The government has already signed a contract with Russia to get 90 per cent of the funds from the Russian government as loan. The two units generating 2.4 GWe are planned to be operational in 2023 and 2024.
Sources, however, said the BR part of estimation was done without assessing necessity of increasing rail-track capacity to transport goods.
"BR is still in the dark about what kind of materials and how much weight of equipment need to be transported to the project site and estimated the cost based on assumptions," said one official.
He said despite several meetings and letters issued to the project office, necessary information was not provided to the BR.
The report submitted by the project-management committee during a meeting in April also failed to clear the picture of goods size and weight needed to be transported.
According to BR, to establish the rail network with the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, more than 10-km rail tracks will be needed to be developed from Iswardi bypass station to the project site through Hardinge Bridge.
BR's goods-handling Iswardi Station is some 7.0 kms away from the project site.
But the station has broad-gauge rail link up to Khulna with the capacity of handing 18 metric tonnes of goods having highest 14 feet in height and 12.11 feet in width. A link from Khulna to Mongla port is now underway.
The station, on the other hand, has no meter-gauge connectivity up to Bangabandhu (Jamuna) bridge to establish link with the Chittagong port.
So BR will have to develop meter-gauge rail track up to the eastern part of the bridge with its maximum dimension of load capacity of 12 metric tonnes.
The meter-gauge track can carry goods of 13 feet in height and 12.06 feet in width.
Officials said the existing railway tracks through Iswardi do not have any passenger-and freight-train services as it is now used for the movement of only motor trolley from divisional headquarters.
   smunima@yahoo.com
Linking N plant with ports to cost Tk 3.3b
Munima Sultana | Published: September 07, 2016 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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