Ecnec okays Tk7,188cr 4-lane Cumilla-B’baria highway

Highlights:

• India to provide Tk2,810crore for the Cumilla-B'baria highway project under its $7.36 billion lines of credit
• Project would also be taken to make Dhaka-Sylhet and Chattogram-Sylhet communication smoother
• Revised proposal of under-construction elevated expressway from Chattogram's Lalkhan Bazar to airport was also approved

The government has taken the initiative to upgrade the Cumilla-Brahmanbaria highway to four lanes with an eye on regional connectivity.

The Tk7,188 crore project was approved at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) on Tuesday. 

India will be providing Tk2,810 crore of the total cost to implement the project under its $7.36 billion lines of credit.

At a press conference held after the meeting, Planning Minister MA Mannan said the project will play a significant role in improving connectivity with India and other neighbouring countries.

It will connect the Ashuganj river port and Akhaura land port, making major headway in the country's transshipment ambitions.

Besides, the planning minister said the project would make the connection between Dhaka-Sylhet and Chattogram-Sylhet smoother.

The project proposal shows that India, Bhutan and Nepal lie on the northeastern border of Bangladesh while Myanmar and China are on the eastern edge. Bangladesh, thus, has a huge scope of expanding trade through road connectivity in this region. 

The Transfer Infrastructure and Logistics Study (BTILS) selected eight corridors on a priority basis for expanding bilateral and sub-regional trade with India and other neighbouring countries in the region. 

The proposed highway is on the priority list.

Including this, Ecnec approved six projects at a cost of Tk8,730 crore on Tuesday.

The revised proposal of the under construction elevated expressway project from Chattogram's Lalkhan Bazar to the airport was also approved at the meeting. 

Five years after the work on the expressway began, the design was modified and the project deadline extended by two more years to 2024.

The implementation work of the project was first targeted to be completed by June 2021. Later the period was extended by one more year, resulting in the project cost spiking from Tk1,048 crore to Tk4,299 crore.

So far 70% of the project has been completed.

Satyajit Karmaker, a member of the physical infrastructure department of the Planning Commission, said at the press conference that if the old design was used, several problems involving ramps and alignment would remain, resulting in more traffic complications than solutions. 

Moreover, following objections of the Ministry of Shipping, the housing and public work held a meeting to determine the new ramp and alignment, leading to more revisions. 

In the previous design, the ramps were supposed to be made with PC girders, but the new design says it will be made with RCC box girders so long vehicles can travel on the expressway smoothly.

In response to a question at the press conference, Planning Minister Mannan also said that the metro rail fare would not be too high. He, however, said there was no scope to take a lesser fare as the maintenance costs were very high.

Secretary of the Planning Division Mamun-Al-Rashid pointed out that the fare fixed for the metro rail would not be enough to cover the maintenance costs.

State Minister for Planning Dr Shamsul Alam said as the fare would not cover maintenance cost, it meant that the fare was already subsidised.

Last week, the Dhaka Traffic Coordination Authority (DTCA) published the complete list of metro rail fares.

The fare from Diabari to Motijheel and Kamalapur is Tk100. The fare from Diabari to TSC and the Secretariat is Tk90, Karwan Bazar and Shahbagh Tk80, and Agargaon and Bijoy Sarani Tk60. 

Among the other projects approved at the ECNEC meeting are – road development of Barisal-Bhola- Lakkhipur route; modernisation of the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS) in Mitford, Cumilla, Faridpur and the Mushroom Cultivation Expansion Project.

Besides, the proposal to extend the duration of the Akhaura-Agartala Dual Gauge Rail Link construction project for the fourth time was also approved.