Bhairab Bridge: Land acquisition to eat up major part of project fund

The Roads and Highways Department (RHD) has taken up a Tk 7.37 billion bridge construction project, for which land acquisition will eat up nearly two-thirds of the project cost, according to a document.

The unusual cost estimates for land acquisition has prompted the Planning Commission to raise questions over the project itself, officials said.

The state-run road developer has proposed spending Tk 4.59 billion funds on the land acquisition alone to build the bridge over the Bhairab River in Khulna.

The cost of constructing the 1.31-kilometre main bridge has been estimated at Tk 1.68 billion.

The project evaluation committee (PEC) of the Commission has given its observations about the higher cost estimation of the project.

Superintending engineer (Khulna Circle Office) of the RHD AKM Azad Rahman told the FE that as the Commission has given its observations, especially about the land acquisition cost and "we are reviewing it and recasting the project proposal."

According to the RHD's project proposal, it has taken up the project to build the bridge on the Digholia (railway gate)-Terokhadia road in Khulna.

It will acquire 11.56 hectares of land for building approach roads on the both sides of the bridge, Mr Rahman said.

Government officials raised the question over the viability of the bridge due to its huge land acquisition target and higher cost.

A senior Commission official said that they were scrutinising the project strictly due mainly to the higher cost estimates for land acquisition and other components of the project.

Mr Rahman of RHD said they would have to spend most of the funds on acquiring land, which drove up the total project costs.

"Since land at the project site is costly and there are some buildings and other establishments, it will require higher funds," he said. "We've estimated the land cost based on the government rate."

The document said the RHD has estimated the construction cost of the girder bridge at Tk 1.68 billion, around a quarter of the project cost.

But the land acquisition will require 62 per cent of the total project cost, for acquiring the land for the bridge.

"The RHD will build the bridge on the Bhairab River. But why will they acquire 11.56 acres of land at Tk 4.59 billion?" the Commission official said. "It seems very high in an area like Khulna."

He said if the authority proposes spending a total of 79 per cent of the cost on land acquire and related components for building the bridge, the project may not be financially and economically feasible.

The RHD has also proposed spending Tk 92.6 million funds on 0.25 million cubic feet of earth-work for the approach roads.

Besides, it has set aside Tk 94 million for the construction of 3.0-km approach road divider, Tk 23.3 million for utility shifting, Tk 38.7 million for road intersection, Tk 50 million for toll plaza, Tk 13 million for drains, and Tk 2.30 million for survey, design, publicity, allowance, etc.

Another Commission official said the RHD had proposed higher cost in the main bridge construction work, compared to those of similar projects in another site.

The RHD has proposed Tk 36.6 million for every 100,000 cubic metre of earth-work for the project while it has been spending Tk 21.52 million for an ongoing bridge construction project at Challakhali.

It has proposed spending Tk128.54 million on per kilometre of approach road, though it costs only Tk 14.14 million for the Challakhali project.

The road developer has estimated Tk 1.22 million per metre for the main Bhairab bridge building work while it is spending Tk 0.932 million of per metre for the other project.

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