Completing work on the Dhaka-Ctg highway

Presently, the Dhaka-Chittagong highway is considered as the busiest one in the whole country. It is a major highway for the movement of people, no doubt. But its greater significance lies in the fact that the lion’s share of the export and import cargoes of the country travel from Dhaka to Chittagong and vice versa as well as other destinations by using it on a daily basis.
But over time, the heavily used road has become unsuitable to meet all the demands on it, efficiently. The expansion of the country’s economy, the increase in the volume of commercial cargoes thereof, all these are putting more and more pressures on this road. Not only for meeting the much greater needs of transportation nowadays compared to the past, but also for getting ready to cope successfully with what are certain to be substantially higher traffic loads on it in the future, the Dhaka-Chittagong highway required urgent uplift and expansion of its capacities. Thus, a project was taken up from 2009 to increase its capacities or to make it a four-lane one.
But the latest information on progress in this work is not satisfactory. According to a report in this paper on Monday only 69.2 per cent of work on this project has been completed so far in the last three years. The project after rescheduling was supposed to be complete by December 31,2015. But our report highlighted that it is now scheduled to be completed not before December 31,2016 and the implementing agency has proposed to increase the cost of the project to Taka 3,706.25 crore from the initial Taka 2,382 crore. Thus, policymakers and all other stakeholders need to take a hard look at the factors which are frustrating its advance through cost escalations and delays through a prompt review. This should be followed by taking of steps to address these issues at the fastest.
According to previous media reports, the project was stalling from a scarcity of funds. Contractors engaged to it were sitting on the fence not doing work on the plea of funds not released to them. But it is a pity that such a pivotal project-- after starting -- slowed down in its implementation from shortage of funds.
Why special measures were not taken to mobilse funds for it with a sense of emergency? Why far less important projects from the Annual Development Plan (ADP) were not dropped and resources meant for these diverted to this nationally very important project to see it through? Surely, returns from this highway project are certain to be so much the greater compared to the non important ones.
The completion of the project is likely to give a major boost to transportation efficiency and movement of commercial cargoes especially. The country’s GDP is expected to rise by at least 1 per cent immediately. Therefore, it is needless to restate how it stands to benefit the economy and people’s movement so greatly.

Completing work on the Dhaka-Ctg highway

Presently, the Dhaka-Chittagong highway is considered as the busiest one in the whole country. It is a major highway for the movement of people, no doubt. But its greater significance lies in the fact that the lions share of the export and import cargoes of the country travel from Dhaka to Chittagong and vice versa as well as other destinations by using it on a daily basis. But over time, the heavily used road has become unsuitable to meet all the demands on it, efficiently. The expansion of the countrys economy, the increase in the volume of commercial cargoes thereof, all these are putting more and more pressures on this road. Not only for meeting the much greater needs of transportation nowadays compared to the past, but also for getting ready to cope successfully with what are certain to be substantially higher traffic loads on it in the future, the Dhaka-Chittagong highway required urgent uplift and expansion of its capacities. Thus, a project was taken up from 2009 to increase its capacities or to make it a four-lane one. But the latest information on progress in this work is not satisfactory. According to a report in this paper on Monday only 69.2 per cent of work on this project has been completed so far in the last three years. The project after rescheduling was supposed to be complete by December 31,2015. But our report highlighted that it is now scheduled to be completed not before December 31,2016 and the implementing agency has proposed to increase the cost of the project to Taka 3,706.25 crore from the initial Taka 2,382 crore. Thus, policymakers and all other stakeholders need to take a hard look at the factors which are frustrating its advance through cost escalations and delays through a prompt review. This should be followed by taking of steps to address these issues at the fastest. According to previous media reports, the project was stalling from a scarcity of funds. Contractors engaged to it were sitting on the fence not doing work on the plea of funds not released to them. But it is a pity that such a pivotal project-- after starting -- slowed down in its implementation from shortage of funds. Why special measures were not taken to mobilse funds for it with a sense of emergency? Why far less important projects from the Annual Development Plan (ADP) were not dropped and resources meant for these diverted to this nationally very important project to see it through? Surely, returns from this highway project are certain to be so much the greater compared to the non important ones. The completion of the project is likely to give a major boost to transportation efficiency and movement of commercial cargoes especially. The countrys GDP is expected to rise by at least 1 per cent immediately. Therefore, it is needless to restate how it stands to benefit the economy and peoples movement so greatly.