Delays in the construction of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project have not only increased the cost of the project but also the chances of more deaths in construction site accidents.
Despite the BRT being a fast-track project of the government, it has missed deadlines several times after starting construction in 2012. Experts have said the delays have prolonged the suffering of people as the construction work interrupts traffic on nearby roads every day.
The Dhaka-Gazipur Highway has become almost unusable due to the construction of the 20.5km-BRT, which regularly results in long tailbacks and has created numerous potholes.
Now, at least five people, including children, were killed when a girder fell on their car from a crane during BRT project work on the Dhaka-Mymensingh road at Uttara on Monday. Another girder collapse in the same area led to six people being injured in March last year.
Businesses near the road are also struggling from rising losses.
When will the suffering end?
High-ups of the project currently have little faith that the work will be completed by the revised deadline, mentioning that the government may need to issue an ultimatum to the contractors.
The contractors with the lowest bids—who are losing money—have been the main issue. Costs have increased significantly as the project has dragged on.
“The contractor [Jiangsu Provincial Transportation Engineering Group Company Limited] won the bid by submitting the lowest bid. It is delaying now even though it is losing money. The commuters are suffering as a result,” said a BRT official, seeking anonymity.
The contractor is not securing enough finances to finish the job on time, the project official added, as their primary company is not always providing financial support.
According to the project officials, the company’s supplier, Jiangsu Provincial Transportation Engineering Group Company Limited, was facing issues as well.
Dr Md Hadiuzzaman, professor of the civil engineering department and director of the Accident Research Institute of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet), said the elevated portion of the project calls for a wide variety of materials and equipment, but suppliers were reluctant to provide them due to payment delays.
“Low quality cranes are possibly being used to save money. There may be no people to manage traffic as well,” he added.
The China Gezhouba Group Company Limited, which is constructing another section of the project, is also moving slowly.
However, BRT officials said, more than 78% of the construction work has already been completed and all basic structures are expected to be ready by the end of this year or early next year.
The BRT project, which will run from the Dhaka airport to Shibbari in Gazipur, started in November 2012 and was expected to be completed by December 2016 at a cost of Tk2,037.9 crore. However, the project was delayed several times due to difficulties with site acquisition and relocation of utility services, inadequate drainage, a shortage of contractor funding, and the Covid-19 pandemic.
The latest extended deadline passed in June and the project cost has so far risen to Tk4,268.3 crore, but the light at the end of the tunnel is now visible, according to Shafiqul Islam, managing director of Dhaka BRT Company.
“We will start operation of Dhaka BRT in July next year as the basic structure will be completed by this year or March 2023,” he said recently.
