Shantinagar to Dhaka-Mawa Road flyover project scrapped

The government – after nearly 15 years of consideration – has backed out of building a flyover from Shantinagar to Dhaka-Mawa Road.

A proposal to remove the project “Flyover from Shantinagar to Dhaka-Mawa Road (Jhilmil)” from the public-private partnership (PPP) list was approved in principle at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal.

At Wednesday’s meeting, officials decided that there is no need to build this particular flyover under the current circumstances. However, they will carry out a study if the ministry concerned wants to do something else in this regard.

The government had planned to build a flyover from Shantinagar to Dhaka-Mawa Road (Jhilmil) to ease gridlock in Dhaka city. RAJUK was supposed to implement this project stretching for 13.31 kilometres.

Under the PPP, the government initially estimated the project cost at Tk 1,921 crore. Of which, the government would have provided Tk 442.49 crore, and the Ministry of Housing and Public Works was tasked with finding private investors for implementing this project.

Meanwhile, at the meeting, the permission for appointing Consortium of (1) China Communications Construction Company Ltd (CCCCL) and (2) China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) as investors, for the project of upgrading Rampura-Amulia-Demra Highway into four-lane by the Roads and Highways Department, got approved in principle.

The officials also approved a cost increase of 3.65 crore for the 3rd Shitalakhya Bridge Construction Project at Bandar Upazila, Narayanganj, for a joint venture of (1) SARM Associates Limited, Bangladesh and (2) Umar Munshi Associates, Pakistan as consulting firms for the 3rd Shitalakhya Bridge Construction Project at Bandar Upazila, Narayanganj and (3) Al Muhandis NK Consulting Engineers, KSA.