PC turns down RHD proposal to revise cost, change design

The Planning Commission (PC) has refused to revise the Dhaka-Mawa four-lane road upgrades project on the grounds of spiralling costs and drastic changes in the design, officials said on Friday.

"We've just turned down the revision proposal for the Dhaka-Mawa four-lane project of the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) due to its higher cost and changes in design," said a senior commission official.

"We have instructed the implementing agencies to complete the project in time," he added.

The ministry of road transport and bridges (MoRT&B) a few months back sought revision of the highways upgrades project increasing the cost by some 69 per cent to Tk 105.43 billion.

Besides, the RHD and the Bangladesh Army -- the implementing agencies -- had brought massive changes in the road design and scope for the 55 kilometres road upgrades work.

The current cost of the Dhaka-Mawa and Pacchor-Bhanga road development project is Tk 62.52 billion.

It has already been reported that the under-construction Dhaka-Mawa and Pacchor-Bhanga road will be the costliest in the world.

Development experts have raised question over the drastic revision of the design and raising the cost of the highway project.

Another commission official said when the revision proposal was sent to the planning minister for his approval before placing it to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC), he declined to endorse it.

And the minister also directed the implementing agencies to complete the project within the current cost and deadline, he told the FE requesting anonymity.

Transport expert and professor of Civil Engineering Department at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) Dr Moazzem Hossain said the commission had the authority to scrutinise the project.

"If the commission finds cost escalation for any project and any other loopholes in it, it should restrict it. It should also look into its viability," he added.

Bangladesh is a country where the quality of the construction work of the roads is not monitored properly due to the lack of expert manpower, corruption, and the nexus between the contractors and implanting authorities.

Meanwhile, the implementing agency has claimed that as long as there are some changes in the design, it will require 69 per cent higher cost than the original Tk 62.52 billion estimate.

As per the current cost, each of kilometres of the road upgrades will require some Tk 1.14 billion, one of the highest in the world.

If the project is revised, the construction cost for one kilometre road would have stand at Tk 1.92 billion.

The construction cost for the 192km Dhaka-Chittagong highway was nearly one-tenth of that of the Dhaka-Mawa road.

The Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane road construction project was completed in December 2016.

Earlier, the project evaluation committee (PEC) of the commission had raised its observations about the massive changes in the project design, recommending examining the proposed cost and changes of the design of the project.

"Now it can be assumed that the feasibility study for the scheme was faulty resulting in cost hike at the middle stage of its execution," said a senior official.

The RHD and the Bangladesh Army are building the road to connect the country's impoverished south-western region with the capital, thus facilitating cross-border transport corridor with India.

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