Over the past year, the majority of projects in the country’s roads and communications sector have seen little to no progress, with the only significant exception being the rapidly moving work on Padma bridge.
Deadlines have been missed in several key projects that were supposed to solve the traffic situation in Dhaka city. The delays include works to set up the metro rail, the bus rapid transit, the Moghbazar-Mouchak flyover and the Dhaka Elevated Expressway.
But on the list of progress, the government can tick off the much-awaited Padma Multipurpose Bridge, which – if construction continues at the current speed – is now expected to be completed by December 2018.
Project insiders say 27% of the construction work has already been done, but add words of caution that the next year would see some big challenges that would make it tough to open the bridge to public in time.
“It is a really difficult task to build the Padma bridge by overcoming the challenge of water flow,” said Jamilur Reza Choudhury, chief of the experts committee for the project.
The Padma sees 104,000 cubic metres of water flowing every second, he said, adding that the rate was only second to the mighty Amazon River in South America.
There are further doubts over the timely completion of the project because of the past performances of the companies that have been awarded the job of building the Padma bridge.
China’s Sinohydro Corporation, which is in charge of river training, has previously failed to timely deliver results in the Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane project.
Major Bridge Engineering Corporation, which is constructing the main bridge, has also caused delays in the Joydebpur-Mymensingh four-lane upgrading project.
“There is no end to challenges in building the bridge. Although it is a tough job, the work is going on smoothly,” said Shafiqul Islam, the project director.
Dhaka projects trailing behind deadlines
In the much-needed metro rail project, authorities missed the November-December deadlines to float tenders for engineering and management system and for construction of elevated stations and viaducts.
The detailed design of the project has also not been completed by the project authority, meaning it is highly unlikely that metro rail construction would begin early next year.
But Mofazzel Hossain, director of metro rail project, expressed hopes of speeding things up. “We are on the process of tender floating and detailed design. As soon as possible, we will start the construction work.”
Another key project for the capital, the Bus Rapid Transit or BRT, is also way behind schedule. Although the construction work was supposed to start this year, only tenders for two packages have been floated this December.
“According to a new plan, the construction work will start in mid-June in the upcoming year,” said Project Director Afil Uddin.
Once completed, it is expected that 140 buses will carry 40,000 passengers per hour between Gazipur Shibbari and Dhaka’s Keraniganj.
Delays also continue to plague the Moghbazar-Mouchak flyover, which was originally supposed to be completed in June 2014.
“Although we missed the deadline, one part of the flyover is being open within March next year,” said Najmul Alam, the project director for the flyover.
Also facing several missed deadline is the Dhaka Elevated Expressway, which finally saw work begin in July; however, progress has so far been sluggish.
