Widening works progressing fast

Construction works of the much anticipated widening Elenga-Hatikumrul-Rangpur Highway into a four-lane one with service lanes is progressing in full swing.

A joint venture of Bangladeshi company Mir Akter Hossain Limited and Chinese firm Hego is implementing the work to upgrade the 190 kilometre of the Elenga–Hatikumrul–Rangpur section of the Dhaka-Northwest Corridor, under the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) programme, with financing from the Asian Development Bank at a cost of around Tk 12,000 crore.

The entire project work is likely to be completed by the end of 2024, said roads and highway officials. 

According to the project officials, about 45 per cent of works have been completed in the Rangpur part of the project during the last 23 months despite a halt for the pandemic, incessant rain and land acquirement problems.

Project manager engineer M Afid Hossain said the works on the 27.2-kilometre portion of the highway between Palashbari and Borodaroga points under package 7 of the project at a cost of Tk 525 crore is going fast. Works have been completed on six kilometres, he said.

Afid said some 240 acres of land on both sides of the highway have been acquired and the landowners have been compensated through the Rangpur district administration.

Thirty culverts have been built for widening the road, a 176-metre long flyover will be built at Palashbari and an overpass will be built at Dhaperhat and Laldighi points in Pirganj.

A unique artistic gateway with the sculpture of the renowned nuclear scientist and the son-in-law Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Dr MA Wajed Miah will be built on the highway at Fatepur- point in Pirganj. Fast-moving vehicles will run on four lanes and slow-paced vehicles will ply on the service lanes of the highway, he added. 

Besides, under package 8 of the project, Tk 480 crore has been allocated to build a 23.5-kilometre long highway from Borodaroga point to the Modern Intersection of Rangpur city.  There will be four bridges and 17 culverts on this stretch of highway and construction of two of the four bridges have been completed, said site officials.    

Moksed Ali, a resident of Pirganj said, “We are feeling happy that the much-required widening of Rangpur-Dhaka highway is progressing fast. We hope that the project work would be completed within the stipulated deadline.”      

Abul Hossain, a businessman at Mithapukur, said after the implementation of the work, the four-lane highway will open up new horizons for the people living in the northern regions as they will be able to reach the capital Dhaka and other places in a much shorter time.

The government needs to intensify the monitoring in the project sites for timely completion, he added. 

Director of the South Asian Sub-Regional Economic Corridor [SASEC-2] programme for the highway Dr Mohammad Waliur Rhaman said the highway is being built maintaining international standards which will serve the purpose at least for the next fifty years.

On completion of the works, the highway will open up a new horizon creating faster road communication between Dhaka and Northern districts and with the neighbouring countries- India, Nepal and Bhutan, he added.

Senior Vice President of FBCCI and former president of Rangpur Chamber of Commerce & Industry Mostafa Azad Chowdhury Babu said the highway will boost the faster communication network and develop the growth of trade and commerce further in the region.