The Roads and Highways Department (RHD) has taken up a new and separate project for constructing a flyover at Mohipal of Feni district on Dhaka-Chittagong Highway.
But the flyover concerned is already a part of the ongoing Dhaka-Chittagong 4-lane road upgradation project being implemented by none other than the RHD itself.
The RHD has recently sent a Tk. 1.71 billion new project proposal to the Planning Commission for approval without taking the Mohipal flyover segment out of the Dhaka-Chittagong 4-lane project.
Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges officials said the RHD has undertaken a Tk 1.71 billion fresh project for building the Mohipal flyover at Feni.
"This is a clear duplication of the project. Why the RHD is taking up the fresh project without completing the ongoing one?" a ministry official said.
A senior RHD official said it has decided now to hand over the Mohipal Flyover construction to the Bangladesh Army under the proposed new project.
Since a foreign construction firm, assigned for upgrading the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway to 4-lane one, is failing to complete the flyover building in time, the RHD has decided to hand over the construction work for the Mohipal flyover to the Bangladesh Army, he told the FE requesting anonymity.
The ongoing component of the flyover construction under the Dhaka-Chittagong 4-lane project will be scrapped, the official added.
The Tk 31.90 billion Dhaka-Chittagong 4-lane road project includes Mohipal Flyover construction on the country's main business transport corridor, Dhaka-Chittagong Highway.
According to the new project proposal of the RHD, the Bangladesh Army would build the flyover by June 2016.
The entire fund for the project will be provided by the government. According to the project proposal, the Bangladesh Army will construct a 280-metre 6-lane flyover at Mohipal in Feni on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway to ensure smooth movement of traffic. The flyover will also have two 152 metres long ramps.
A PC official said they had given observation on the fresh Tk 1.71 billion project for constructing Mohipal Flyover in addition to the same project included in the ongoing Dhaka-Chittagong 4-lane project.
"Until or unless the Mohipal flyover construction is excluded from the ongoing 4-lane project, how can the RHD propose to build the same flyover under another project?" he questioned.
The Tk 31.90 billion Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane road project is facing delay in its implementation for the last seven years and it will take more time to complete the entire work. According to the timeframe, the project must be completed by December this year.
The Dhaka-Chittagong 4-lane project started in January 2006 where Chinese and Bangladeshi companies are working to upgrade the road.
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