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Costs go up for eastern bypass

Project waits for green light

KAUSAR ISLAM AYON
***The Dhaka integrated flood control dam-cum-eastern bypass project from Tongi to Demra was undertaken in 1999 and the cost was estimated at Tk 2,475.82 crore. The project was submitted to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) meeting for approval in April but the finance minister sent it back.***
With every passing month, the estimated expenditure to construct the multidimensional Dhaka eastern bypass is increasing and experts involved in the project fear that work might not start before 2010.
The Dhaka integrated flood control dam-cum-eastern bypass project from Tongi to Demra was undertaken in 1999 and the cost was estimated at Tk 2,475.82 crore. However, at a recent meeting, Finance Minister M Saifur Rahman said that the present cost would not be less than Tk 3,000 crore.
The project was submitted to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) meeting for approval in April but the finance minister sent it back.
“The amount is huge. We need to conduct more studies on whether we have the capacity and other regulatory measures to carry out the work," said Saifur Rahman.
Any additional cost has to be managed by the government as the development partners, the World Bank in particular, have not revised their contribution. The partners were supposed to provide Tk 821.65 crore while the rest Tk 1,654 .16 crore was to be arranged from local sources.
“The World Bank is continuing to put pressure on the government for quick implementation of the project but they have not revised their previous budget. That has pushed the government on back foot regarding a positive decision,” said a high official of the Economic Relations
Division (ERD), an implementing partner of the project.
Although a high-powered 25-member committee had been formed in September, it is difficult to see any significant moves by the committee during the remaining duration of the present coalition government.
“During its present tenure, the government has not taken any pragmatic step to implement the project. Therefore, any progress in the last year of this government is also unlikely,” said a concerned government official.
“Even if the next government is sincere about the project, it would not start before 2010 as the project is very complicated. By that time, the implementation cost would cross Tk. 3,500 crore,” he added.
The committee headed by the finance minister was formed under pressure from the World Bank, which asked for a separate authority to implement the project. The committee will form a detailed plan of the project mentioning scope of work, objectives, components, financing and implementation methodology.
Five cabinet ministers, Dhaka City Corporation mayor, two state ministers and principal secretary to the Prime Minister along with nine secretaries of different ministries and heads of Rajuk, Roads and Highways, Dhaka Wasa, Local Government and Engineering Division, Forest and Environment Department, CEO of DCC and the DG of the Water Development Board form the commi-ttee.
After the unprecedented floods in 1998 the project was outlined to protect some 124-square kilometer area on the eastern fringe of the capital. The proposed dam-cum-road stretching 42.50 kilometers from Kanchpur Bridge to Tongi in Gazipur would also help reduce traffic congestion of the city and would improve the city's drainage system.