PC refuses to give nod to Karnaphuli tunnel project

Munima Sultana | Published: March 23, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00

The Planning Commission has turned down Bangladesh Bridges Authority (BBA) proposal for approving the Karnaphuli tunnel project on grounds of incomplete groundwork and flaws in cost analysis.
Sources said BBA sent the development-project proposal (DPP) to the project-evaluation committee (PEC) for approval without evaluating commercial proposal of the Chinese government-designated company, finalising funds for land acquisition as well as the cost involvement for environment management.
All these are essential components to be taken into account in finalising the total project cost - at least close to it, they added.
The PEC in its meeting held on Sunday observed the flaws and guided the authority to complete all these works to submit the DPP in the next meeting, as the committee "cannot sit over and over again".
It is learnt that BBA has proposed the project cost at Tk 56 billion when they sent the DPP to the Planning Commission for PEC seal but added Tk 20 billion more at the time of the PEC meeting held Sunday.
"The cost of the Karnaphuli Tunnel project may go up to US$ 1.0 billion after its total assessment is completed," a source said.
According to the sources, the PEC meeting asked the BBA to submit the DPP with total cost analysis after signing contract with the Chinese company and getting the rate of land acquisition from the Deputy Commissioner's office. Â
They were also requested to get the environmental clearance from the Directorate of Environment through completing the environmental impact assessment (EIA) and environment-management plan (EMP).
China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) Limited submitted its commercial proposal to the BBA last month after the Chinese government had designated it to construct the 6-kilometre tunnel with its funds.
"We have asked them (BBA) to firm up the numbers for a complete DPP structure so that those are not changed frequently," said Arastoo Khan, PC member for Physical Infrastructure.
BBA officials, however, said haste to get the approval for the DPP on the Karnaphuli tunnel was for directives from higher authorities.
They also pointed out the hassle with the DoE in getting the environmental clearance was also for the recent change in the terms of reference (ToR) of Ministry of Environment and Forests.
"We have done the environment study during the feasibility study of the tunnel with the available ToR as there was not any such thing at that time," said a senior BBA official.
The BBA completed the feasibility study on the proposed Karnaphuli tunnel in 2013, assessing the cost at $692 million for the over six-kilometre tunnel along with two approach roads.
PEC meeting sources said the meeting raised the issue of getting the Chinese proposal evaluated and directed negotiating with the Chinese government in minimising the interest rate on the loan.
Karnaphuli tunnel is one of the priority projects of the Prime Minister, included, at the last minute, in the joint statement signed with her Chinese counterpart during her visit to that country in June last year.
On February 05, a meeting was held at the Prime Minister's Office when directives were also given to speed up the process of implementation, including getting approval for the DPP.
However, the commercial proposal submitted by the CCCC will not be finalised without expertise of foreign experts as tunnel is the first of its kind in Bangladesh.
The BBA officials said they had already called expression of interest for the resettlement-action plan, land acquisition, EIA and EMP.
They are also in process of appointing independent consultant to evaluate the commercial proposal.
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