Resetting Dhaka's overhead electric cables underground stalls

Shifting Dhaka's dangerously dangling overhead power-distribution-network cables underground remains stalled as two Japanese-funded projects worth around Tk 19.01 billion face rollback after prolonged dithering, sources say.

The projects were initiated under Power Division of the government nearly eight years ago to reset parts of the overhead electric wires in Gulshan and Karwan Bazar areas, to begin with.

Despite their ambitious goal of modernising the capital's electricity system and removing visual clutter from overhead cables, the projects have made virtually no physical progress, even after spending over Tk 1.36 billion, according to sources at the Planning Commission.

"A huge amount of public money has been wasted in the name of cost efficiency in power distribution, without any physical infrastructure being developed," says an official, on a note frustration.

He told the FE writer that this happened because the projects were taken up without conducting proper feasibility studies, appropriate design and proper cost assessment.

Sources say the Industry and Energy Division of the Planning Commission hosted a meeting of the Project Evaluation Committee (PEC) to assess proposal for closing down the "Construction of 132/33/11KV Underground Grid Substation in Gulshan, Dhaka," project without completing it.

The project, with a total cost of Tk 9.51 billion, had seen no actual works completed, yet Tk 778.175 million was spent.

During the meeting, DESCO, the implementing agency, was asked to explain why such a large sum was expended and how the expenditure benefited the public.

The PEC also demanded an explanation for the delay of over two years in submitting the closure proposal to the Planning Commission, even though the decision to terminate the project had been made in 2023.

Sources say both projects, which started in June 2018, were originally scheduled to be completed by 2023. Later, the timelines were extended until June 2024 without any increase in the allocated budget. Now that the project periods have expired, settling all outstanding liabilities and formally winding up both projects are expected to take until June next year.

For the two projects, the Japanese agency JICA had pledged loans totaling Tk 12.55 billion, covering over 66 per cent of the total estimated cost.

The plan included constructing two 25-storey buildings, each with four basements. However, the lowest bid submitted by contractors was at least 60- percent higher than the estimated cost, leaving the projects mired in complexities and never- reaching completion.

The minutes of the PEC meeting reveal that the DESCO-implemented project spent Tk 778.18 million, with a financial progress of only 8.18 per cent.

Nearly 89 per cent of the expenses-around Tk 694 million-went to international and local consultants, according to official meeting minutes.

Project officials say they hired foreign and local design consultants to prepare designs, tender documents, and feasibility reports. However, all bids received for construction work were found to be 60-70-percent higher than the estimate.

BUET's Bureau of Research, Testing and Consultation (BRTC), which reviewed the lowest bid, also deemed it "unreasonably high" compared to market rates.

The PEC observed that although the project yielded no tangible output, a large amount of public funds had already been spent, and ordered a detailed audit of consultancy payments and project expenditures.

The DPDC-implemented Construction of Underground Substation at Karwan Bazar under DPDC Area progressed 6.14 per cent on account of spending from funds.

After inordinate delays, the Power Division formally decided to terminate the project on September 26, 2023, following similar cost -escalation issues and limited feasibility.

The meeting minutes reveal that during the PEC meeting, the absence of DESCO's Managing Director was noted with concern by the committee chair, Md Mokhlesur Rahman, member of the Planning Commission's Industry and Power Division.

Several attempts by this correspondent to contact the DESCO MD, however, couldn't succeed.

jahid.rn@gmail.com