Joydebpur-Elenga 4-lane project seeks time, money for 5th time

The upgradation of 70-kilometre Joydebpur to Elenga four-lane project has sought more funds and extension for fifth time in a row.

In this regard, the Road Transport and Bridges Ministry has sent a special revision proposal seeking Tk 621 crore more and an extension by two years to the Planning Commission for approval, a senior official of the Planning Ministry told The Business Post.

“We will hold a project evaluation committee meeting soon. After getting approval, the project will be sent to the ECNEC,” he added.

However, even after eight years, the progress of physical work is 90 per cent and financial work is 77.92 per cent.

Started in April 2013, the project titled “SASEC Road Connectivity: Improvement of Joydebpur-Chandra-Elenga Road to 4-Lane Highway” was scheduled to be complete by March 2018.

Earlier the authorities revised the project four times.

According to the revised project proposal, the cost of the project is worth Tk 6214 crore and is supposed to be ended by June 2022.

The fund will come from the Asian Development Bank and the Government of Bangladesh (GoB).

The Roads and Highways Department is implementing the project.

The upgradation project aims at improving 70km four lane, constructing 53 small and big bridges, nine flyovers, two railway overpasses, six steel footbridges and 76 box culverts.

Project Director Md Ishaque said the implementation of the project is being delayed due to the revision of the project several times.

Due to the pandemic, the construction work is going slow, he added.

He hoped that the project would be completed within the extended timeframe.

Meanwhile, a report prepared by the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division of the Planning Commission has blamed slow and poor supervision for not completing the work in time.

The report also found that the main problem was lack of proper planning during the start of improving the four-Lane Joydebpur-Chandra-Tangail-Elenga highway.

Meanwhile, the authorities are working to implement the Elenga-Hatikumrul-Rangpur 4-Lane project.

It is being implemented as part of the South Asia Sub-regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Road Connectivity Initiative of Asian Development Bank.

The highway is being aligned with SASEC-4 and 9, Asian Highway-2, BIMSTEC-2 and SAARC Highway Corridor-4, according to the project.