Fund shortage defers feasibility study to June

Bangladesh Railway has extended the duration of the feasibility study project of Bhanga (Faridpur)- to-Payra Rail Link via Barishal for the third time due to fund shortage, says Project Director Mamunul Islam.

Bangladesh Railway that is implementing the project of Tk49.96 crore proposed to cover up the fund shortage from the unspent money of the five of its expenditure sources.

The consultancy firm submitted the final report of its study with detailed design and prepared the tender document in June 2021.

After the completion of the project, the division concerned sent the bill of the consultancy firm on 30 June, 2021.

In reply, the accounts division sent back the bill or invoice saying that due to the fund shortage of the said amount the invoice was not possible to be made.

Later, the ministry extended the duration of the project up to June 2022 on condition of making payment of the bill by keeping the actual expenditure as it was.

According to the project profile, it has inventory worth Tk49.30 crore but the bill payment requires Tk23.35 lakh more.

The ministry then asked it to fulfill the shortage from five sources - Tk4.68 lakh from advertisement expenditure, Tk.57 lakh from transport cost,

Tk7.98 lakh from office stationary expenditure and others, Tk3.98 lakh from tour expense and Tk6.14 lakh from POC PEC etc.

The construction of 214.91 km rail line from Faridpur’s Bhanga to Payra Port, the country’s third sea port, via Barishal would cost Tk40,701.22 crore, according to the feasibility study conducted by Bangladesh Railway.

However, the project cost will be Tk44, 497.60 crore if the authority wants to build 25km elevated line on the route where the land is very low. To construct the elevated line, the high embankments will have to be built.

As a part of the government’s plan to bring the entire country under the rail network and establish a direct link between the under-construction Payra Sea Port and the capital, it intended to construct rail line from Bhanga to Payra.

Bhanga has already been connected with railway network from Faridpur and it will be directly linked with Dhaka once the ongoing Padma Bridge Rail Link Project, under which a rail line from Dhaka to Jashore is being constructed, is completed by June 2024.

The government took up a project in 2016 to carry out a feasibility study with detailed design and tender document at a cost of Tk43 crore. Although the project was supposed to be completed by June 2018 at a cost of Tk49.96 crore, the BR was only able to sign an agreement with a joint venture company of Dowha of South Korea, TYPSA of Spain and DDC of Bangladesh in July that year.

The deadline for the project was later extended to 30 June.

As per the study, the broad gauge single line will have 20 stations and more than 40 bridges. A modern computer-based interlocking signaling system will be installed at all stations.

The consultant mentioned the project as an ‘economically viable’ one and highly desirable investment scheme. However, the funding source for the project has not been finalized yet.