Delays in land acquisition and the process of shifting utilities are seriously hampering the physical work of the project of converting the Dhaka-Sylhet Highway – the country's second most important highway – into a six-lane.
The delay and scarcity of required sand for the project may result in missing the project completion deadline and cost overruns, officials of SASEC Dhaka-Sylhet Corridor Road Investment Project said.
The Roads and Highways Department (RHD) is implementing the Tk 16,918.58 crore project to turn the existing 210km Dhaka-Sylhet highway into a six-lane one by adding a service lane on each side, being funded by Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Bangladesh government.
The development of the road will enhance the facilitation of faster and safer movements of passengers and cargo, as well as establish more economic links between Dhaka, Bhairab, Jagadishpur, Shaistaganj, Sylhet, and Tamabil, and all places within the areas.
Till January 21, 2024, the overall progress of the project stood at only 9.65 per cent, project officials say.
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the project in February 2021 and set a December 2026 deadline for completion.
The government decided to implement the project under six packages, and so far appointed 12 contractors. For the land acquisition and utility shifting, Tk 6,286.31cr was allocated under a support project.
Under the main project, there will be 66 bridges stretching 6,020 meters, 305 culverts stretching 1,489 meters, 26 foot over bridges stretching a total of 1,271 meters, 13 overpasses, and railway overpasses stretching a total of 7,880 meters, said AK Mohammad Fazlul Karim, project director, SASEC Dhaka-Sylhet Corridor Road Investment Project.
Project officials said they are yet to start the road widening work as the required land needed on both sides of the existing two-lane road is yet to be managed. The land will be used to shift the utility lines as well.
They will shift the gas and electricity lines first to the acquired land and then start the road expansion work. Currently, the contractors are mainly working on constructing bridges and culverts as no additional lands are not required.
Causes behind the delay
The project is being implemented under six contract packages and 13 lots. The authorities have picked up contractors and awarded 12 work orders so far.
The highway will expand over seven districts – Narayanganj, Narsingdi, Kishoreganj, Brahmanbaria, Habiganj, Moulvibazar and Sylhet. Under the project, the authorities planned to acquire a total of 829 acres of land.
As per the Revised Development Project Proposal (RDPP), among the districts in Habiganj, the highest 302.90 acres, followed by Sylhet 254 acres, and Narsingdi 158 acres of land were brought under the land acquisition plan.
However, the project authorities are yet to receive land from the landowners. The local district administrations are dealing with the process.
Officials said the local administrations are blaming mainly their manpower shortage and legal tangle behind the delay in acquiring land. Project authorities said they submitted land acquisition proposals to the district administrations from October 10, 2021, to April 2023.
The final deadlines for handing over the land to the RHD were fixed June 2023 to December 2024 depending on a revision. But so far, they have received just 10 acres of land in Habiganj and Moulvibazar.
If this pace continues, the land acquisition work may not be completed in time.
Badiul Alam, Deputy Commissioner of Narsingdi told The Business Post that they are working on the land acquisition. “We have completed some procedures. Some are in the joint survey stages. Three are pending with the RHD. If they release the funds we will complete them,” he said.
However, the RHD said that they have handed over the funds in most of the cases to administrations of seven districts.
Asked if they would be able to complete the process and hand over the land within the June 2024 deadline, Narsingdi DC said, “We are acquiring land on a 52-kilo meter stretched area. Besides, we have a shortage of manpower. But we are trying our best to meet the deadline.”
Project officials said that delays in land acquisition hampered the utility shifting most.
“For example, the existing road has electric poles and gas pipelines installed by gas and electricity service providers which need to be removed. The service providers have been paid in installments to shift those in 2021, 2022, and 2023.
But we cannot provide them the land to shift those poles and pipelines,” said Deputy Project Director Md Rucunuzzaman.
Gas and electricity providers like Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company, Dhaka Power Distribution Company, and Jalalabad Gas Transmission and Distribution System Ltd have already told the project authorities that shifting the lines later might hike costs as the price of equipment is increasing, he said.
The contractors of the project are facing another challenge in collecting sand for the project after a sudden restriction on extracting sand from the riverbed and Balu Mahals (sand quarries). Contractors typically fulfill their earth requirements from nearby rivers, small hills, and water bodies, as transportation from distant areas is costly.
Project officials said the Road Transport and Highways Division wrote to the Ministry of Land to solve the issue and the DCs have been requested to allow lifting sand. Otherwise, the cost of earth filing will also increase.
Besides, from Kanchpur to Bhulta, there are water bodies that are highly contaminated by industrial waste. The contamination has damaged the soil quality.
The project authorities will need to work on the matter to get back the soil quality before starting the highway expansion works.
