Editorial Desk :
It now seems to have become an established practice in Bangladesh to increase the timeline and cost of any given project. Dragging a project unusually has now become an unwritten norm. From a mega project such as a Padma multipurpose bridge to a lesser one, for example a city flyover in the capital, each project is taking an abnormally lengthy period of time. Project authorities do not seem to bother that delay in project implementation increases cost as well as sufferings of people in and around the project site.
We cannot but be surprised to know, from a report of a national daily yesterday, that a three-year Dhaka-Joydebpur rail expansion project is now going to take 15 years for its completion. The project’s initial cost was estimated to be at Tk 848.60 crore and was supposed to be completed within June 2015; but now the project authorities have asked for an extension of completion time until June 2027 and an additional fund of Tk 2,158.96 crore more.
How could a nation be so callous and unprofessional in implementing a crucial infrastructure development project? The Dhaka-Joydebpur rail expansion project involves construction of a third and fourth dual-gauge line on the Dhaka-Tongi route and a second line on the Tongi-Joydebpur route. Those who commute by trains through this route-in fact all railway passengers coming to and going from the capital to the country’s different destinations-know how their time is wasted because of the inadequate rail line infrastructure in this place. The inadequacy shoots up the travel time.
Hence, this Dhaka-Joydebpur rail expansion project should have been a priority project for the railway authorities. But unfortunately, started in November 2012 and supposed to be completed in 2015, the project’s physical work started only in February 2019 due to complexities over
the project design and tendering process, the report of the daily mentioned. As of now, the project, being implemented with Indian Lines of Credit, has seen just 58.25 percent progress.
Why is this delay? The project’s current director says that the construction of the Dhaka Elevated Expressway from the airport on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway to Kutubkhali on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway over the rail line in the capital is the main reason behind it. If it is so, then the question naturally arises: why didn’t the relevant authorities plan the project in a coordinated way in the first place? When engineering knowledge and technology all over the world is becoming swift and smarter, in Bangladesh why is this lethargy and poor engineering?
It is not only a matter of corruption within the railway ministry, the powerful bus owners are big gig obstructers. The roads will be so cluttered as these are now. But the big business of powerful bus owners do not want to go out of their lucrative business. It is said that most of the owners are retired police officers and MPs.
