Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader has said a part of the Moghbazar-Mouchak flyover will be opened on March 30.
Even though construction work on the project remains incomplete, the 2.11 kilometre stretch from Sathrasta intersection to Ramna police station – a fifth of the total length of the flyover – will be opened, he said.
The flyover has seen a number of delays and cost overruns.
It was estimated to cost Tk343.70 crore when the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved it in 2011. The cost then more than doubled to Tk772.77 crore and then skyrocketed to Tk1,218.89 crore.
Although the flyover was expected to be completed by July 2014, it is now scheduled to be ready by December 2016.
Speaking to the media after a meeting of the board of the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA) at Nagar Bhabhan in the capital on Wednesday, Obaidul said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would inaugurate the flyover.
“The total length of the flyover is about 10km and will be completed by December. But the part from Sathrasta to Ramna will be opened first to reduce public sufferings,” he said.
The under-construction flyover is being built in three parts.
One part is the 2.11 kilometre strectch from Sathrasta to Ramna police station. The second part which runs from Eskaton to Mouchak is 86% complete. The third part from Rampura to Shantinagar, via Malibagh and Rajarbagh police lines, is only 47% complete.
The Moghbazar-Mouchak flyover was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) in 2011. The prime minister laid the foundation stone of the project on February 16, 2013.
