Unusual haste in Karnaphuli tunnel project approval raises questions

The authorities concerned have moved to get the Karnaphuli tunnel project approved without completing necessary groundwork, insiders said.
Going great guns with it raises doubt over smooth implementation of the project that intends to build a major communications infrastructure, they added.
Bangladesh Bridges Authority (BBA) has already sent the development project proposal (DPP) to the Planning Commission sans clearance from authorities concerned, finalising assessment of the project cost and completing necessary studies.
Project-insiders fear the first-ever tunnel project may face the same fate as Dhaka Elevated Expressway (DEE) for trying to get it through post-haste without doing the necessary studies.
Sources said the commercial proposal submitted by the Chinese government-approved company recently could not be finalised. Besides, the government was yet to get a clear picture of its contribution to the project for lack of resettlement action plan (RAP) and settlement of the matters of tax and VAT.
"These are important for finalizing the cost of the project," said an official.
The Directorate of Environment (DoE), meanwhile, has declined to issue the environment clearance for the project in the absence of necessary environmental impact assessment (EIA), initial environmental examination (IEE) and RAP.
It is observed that many projects skip these studies after DPP approval.
The DEE project -- country's first public-private-partnership undertaking in infrastructure -- has still been facing various hurdles for skirting necessary studies before the signing of the concessional agreement in 2011.
The BBA completed the feasibility study on the Karnaphuli tunnel in 2013, assessing the cost at 692 million US dollars for the over 6-kilometre tunnel along with two approach roads.
Sources said the Chinese government-designated company - China Communication Construction Company Limited -- has proposed the same cost in its commercial proposal.
The authorities will have to assess price escalation and inflation in the proposal as already two years have gone by, said another official.
A project-insider said the government is hurrying in getting the approval of the tunnel project as it plans to lay the foundation during the Chinese president's visit somewhat planned for April.
The Karnaphuli project is one of the priority ones the Bangladesh 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.
Chinese government financier Exim Bank has, meanwhile, written to the government to speed up the process of implementation of some projects, including the under-river tunnel, to disburse their funds in time.
A meeting of the project-evaluation committee on the Karnaphuli tunnel project is scheduled to be held in the Planning Commission on March 22.
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