Progress of construction of the Dhaka-Mymensingh four lane highway is going well though it is facing the problem of moving materials caused by shutdowns, sources said.
Four lane project director Hafizur Rahman said despite materials movement problem caused by shutdowns the construction firms are trying their best to go ahead with the project.
He said in the four phases (WI 1, 2, 3 and 4) of the project the military is working on WI 1 and 2, Project Builder Limited (PBL) on WI 3 and another local firm on WI 4. WI stands for work improvement.
The total length of the project is 87.18 kilometres.
Mr. Rahman said, the military has just started their work and till November their progress is 8 per cent while the progress of PBL is 32 per cent.
PBL managing director Engineer Aminul Islam said, "During shutdowns we are carrying materials to our WI 3 site despite the risks."
He said, "We are responsible for constructing 30 kilometres of the project and our project cost is Tk3 billion but it would finally go up to Tk4 billion after the price escalation."
The PBL managing director said, "Though our current progress till November is 32 per cent but it could have been 40 per cent if there were no shutdowns or other programmes."
Mr. Islam said the completion of the project is scheduled for June 2014 but if the ongoing situation continues then it may take a longer time.
To ease the pressure of vehicles on Dhaka-Mymensingh highway, the government started the construction work for improving the existing two lanes into four lanes.
The government is constructing the whole project at its own cost and hopes the pressure on the highway would be eased once the project is completed.
The government's roads and highways (RHD) is implementing the project.
Director of the project under RHD Mr. Rahman said the military took the work after a problem with the earlier construction firm. So they may take more time.
He also said there may be delay by the PBL as they started the work after a year due to removal of utility services in their site area.
A RHD source said there is good progress as the government is trying to ease the existing traffic congestion on the highway.
But he feared that if it takes longer time, then the rainy season may hamper the progress of the project.
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