Getting 2nd Meghna Bridge plan right

The move to construct the second bridge over the river Meghna on the country's most commercially important Dhaka-Chittagong highway has raised at least a couple of questions that deserve priority attention of the policymakers. The first question relates to the width of the proposed bridge and the second one, to the mobilisation of fund from external sources to help finance its construction. The Ministry of Communications (MoC), according to the circles concerned, has chosen wrong options in both the cases for reasons best known to it. The MoC has opted for a new two-lane bridge over the river Meghna, similar to the existing one. But the Planning Commission has raised objection to this, saying that the proposed bridge would not be enough to accommodate even the present traffic load of the Dhaka-Chittagong highway. The Commission, reportedly, has sent back the proposal to the MoC and asked the latter to conduct a study on the feasibility of a four-lane bridge. The Commission's stance on the issue merits a serious consideration by the government for a number of reasons. The vehicular movement on Dhaka-Chittagong highway has increased manifold over the last few decades and it would continue to rise with the expansion of the country's external trade. But the situation of the highway does not require any elaboration since most of its users, businesses or otherwise, do already have a painful experience, mainly due to the constant traffic gridlocks. And to ease the traffic movement, the MoC is now all set to convert the two-lane highway into a four-lane one. Besides, the existing two-lane bridge over the Meghna has meanwhile developed serious faults and the authorities may be forced to declare it 'abandoned' anytime. Both the highway expansion and the bridge projects, to be completed at substantial costs of public money, are aimed at making the traffic movement through this important land route easy and hassle-free. But the government needs to exercise wisdom while selecting projects that would deliver best results and optimise the use of resources. A two-lane bridge is unlikely to serve the purpose under the prevailing circumstances. Then again, the MoC reportedly has decided to receive US$ 93.4 million from the Chinese government for constructing the second two-lane Megnha Bridge. Its terms and conditions are not as attractive as that of a soft loan offered for its construction by another bilateral donor, Japan, which had earlier funded the existing one. Both the rate of interest and the period of repayment of the Japanese loan offer are relatively more flexible than those of the Chinese loan. However, the MoC might have other reasons for choosing the Chinese loan. There is no denying that the Dhaka-Chittagong highway requires immediate expansion for the sake fast and smooth movement of both goods and passengers. The usual foot-dragging in the name of planning and approval of projects concerned has already caused a heavy waste of time. Delays and corruption have otherwise become the hallmarks of the road sector projects. Some donors, who are very much sensitive to the issue of graft, has started thinking twice before committing fund to any major road projects in Bangladesh. This has turned out to be a serious hurdle for the policymakers to overcome as far as the improvement of the road sector infrastructure is concerned. Hence, the issue merits an immediate attention of the decision-makers for the greater good of the country.