Work progresses only 30pc in five years

The Elenga-Hatikamrul-Rangpur Highway Widening project saw 30 per cent progress in its work in last five years.
Because of the slow progress, the project office has already revised the development project proposal (DPP) increasing the cost by 45 per cent and extending the time by three more years. The revision has come before it could start the field level work.
Though the project office said its work now got momentum, sources said the delay happened in the absence of Chinese contractors and changes in the design.
The tender process for one package covering the Elenga-Bangabandhu Bridge Eastern side part of the highway took four years to complete.
'Around 31 per cent progress in work on the 190-kilometre highway was possible till now as its ground breaking took time because of land acquisition and coronavirus outbreak', said an official.
Though the project was launched in 2016, he said it took until end of 2019 to start the field level work.
The RHD launched the Elenga-Hatikamrul-Rangpur highway widening project in tandem with the Tangail-Elenga highway project under the Asian Development Bank-funded SASEC-2 initiaitve. It completed awarding of all its 11 work packages by 2019 except Package 5 with the target to meet its first deadline of August 2021.
The project cost has now increased to Tk 166.62 billion from Tk 118.99 billion and a fresh target has been set to complete the work by December 2024.
The SASEC 2 project follows the SASEC 1, under which a 70-km corridor from Tangail to Elenga has been developed. Work on this corridor started in 2013 with the target to complete it by 2018 but its deadline was extended the third time to June 2022.
The Dhaka-Chattogram four-lane project which was adopted as a priority of the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) as it served as the country's economic lifeline took more than 12 years for completing the work on the 193 km road.
Project Director Mohammad Waliur Rahman said though SASEC 2 was viewed as an important project, the initial delay was caused by land acquisition. The government changed the land acquisition policy and increased the acquisition cost three times the market price which was not incorporated in the DPP.
He said considering the highway's alignment with the Asian Highway, South Asiam Sub Regional Economic Cooperation and BIMSTEC corridors, RHD adopted the project with due importance. It set a target to complete the work by December 2024, he added.
According to the project office, the Elenga-Hatikamrul-Rangpur highway widening work is being carried out under a total of 11 packages, under which three axle load stations, modern road research and training centre and road operation units will also be set up.
Within 190.4 km of the road, six flyovers, two railway overpasses, 32 bridges, 180 culverts, 11 footover bridges, 39 underpasses and a modified interchange at Hatikamrul have been designed. A total of 326 hectares of land have been acquired.
The PD said the increase in the project cost and implementation time extension happened due to a change in the road design and accommodation of a new plan.
He, however, claimed that all design-related changes were incorporated in the revised DPP and the project work now got going in full swing without compromising on quality.
'Quality of work has been given the top priority as its traffic volume is likely to increase threefold after the inauguration due to its location in an important regional corridor,' he told the FE at his office before the latest spell of Covid-induced lockdown.
The SASEC 2 project comes in tandem with the SASEC 1 under the ADB's SASEC Northwestern road corridor development project.
Apart from reputed local construction firms, three Chinese firms have also been hired for widening the 190-km corridor.

[email protected]