Elenga-Rangpur Four-Lane Conversion: More time, more money required

 

The government in September 2016 approved a project to turn a 190km two-lane road from Elenga to Rangpur into a four-lane highway with the view to boosting connectivity between the capital and the northern region.

The mega project, implemented by the Roads and Highways Department with loans mostly from the Asian Development Bank, was supposed to be implemented within June 2021 at a cost of Tk 11,899 crore.However, the project authority could not start the physical works until 2020 and added some new elements, resulting in a major revision of the project.

Now, the revised cost of the project is Tk 19,016 crore and the deadline is December this year.The project saw 75 percent progress so far as the authority could not even start construction of two major flyovers in Gaibandha due to long delays in land acquisition.

So, the project authority sought two more years, including a one-year defect liability period, and Tk 40 crore to complete the job.

The revision proposal is now pending with the road transport and highways division and will be sent to the Planning Commission soon, according to officials informed with the proceedings.If the proposal is approved, the project cost will rise to Tk 19,056 crore, which would be Tk 7,157 crore (60 percent) higher than the original estimate. The new deadline will be December 2026, which is five-and-a-half years more than the original timeframe.

In this situation, the Road Transport and Highways Minister Obaidul Quader yesterday opened one railway overpass, seven road overpasses and two bridges built under the project.

"These are opened to traffic as the prime minister's Eid gift to homebound people," Quader said after opening the structures virtually.Under the project titled South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Road Connectivity Project-2, the 190km road from Elenga of Tangail to Rangpur will be turned into a four-lane highway with service lanes on both sides.

RHD has already expanded a 70km road from Gazipur to Elenga into a four-lane highway under SASEC Road Connectivity Project-1 and Dhaka-Gazipur highway under a different project.There are plans to turn a 320-km two-lane road from Rangpur to Banglabandha, Rangpur to Burimari and Rangpur to Sonahat into a four-lane highway along with service lanes to boost regional connectivity, according to RHD officials.

So far, construction of 150 km of pavement out of 190km has been completed along with all 180 culverts, 18 out of the 32 bridges, 25 out of the 39 overpasses, one out of five flyovers, said SASEC-2 project officials.However, construction works of two flyovers at Palashbari and Gobindaganj could not be started due to delays in land acquisition, Project Director Waliur Rahman told The Daily Star on Wednesday.

Besides, work for a major interchange at Hatikumrul and a flyover at Elenga got delayed due to land acquisition.However, the problem has now been solved, he added.An official of the project said they have appointed a contractor for building Hatikumrul interchange in January 2022 but they received land in November that year, hampering the works.

They received land for Palashbari flyover in January this year while from local administration last week asked them to receive land for Gobindaganj flyover, he said wishing not to be named.Covid outbreak and Russia-Ukraine war were other reasons behind the cost and time overrun, he added."We hoped to complete all construction works within 2025," Waliur Rahman said.So, they sought time up to December 2026 with one year defect liability period and additional Tk 40 crore, he added.