& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Poor show in projects

Communications sector saw a few noticeable successes

M Abul Kalam Azad
The government is stepping into its final year in office with a lacklustre performance in the communications sector as
rail, Dhaka Elevated Expressway and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT).
There are some success stories like importing
it could not launch some important projects that could have greatly improved the country's communications network and eased Dhaka's perennial traffic congestion.
The Padma Multipurpose Bridge is on top of the failure chart followed by metro
buses, kicking off construction of a number of flyovers and making progress in upgrading the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway. But those have been dimmed in the Padma bridge corruption allegations.
There is little doubt about the railway sector's development. A huge amount of money has been infused for development of railway that had lost its tracks, stations, wagons, locomotives and trains owing to lack of initiatives and fund in the past few decades.
As many as 42 projects worth about Tk 15,000 crore have been taken for expansion of the railway network, buying locomotives, coaches and wagons, constructing new tracks, and reopening the closed stations.
However, corruption and mismanagement in railway's manpower recruitment has largely affected the sector's development.
The scenario of the road and bridge sectors is, however, quite the opposite.
The communications ministry in Syed Abul Hossain's three-year tenure planned a plethora of ambitious projects and likewise demonstrated a dismal performance.
The Roads and Highways Division took up 122 projects worth Tk 12,400 crore. Only a few of them kicked off, but their progress is not satisfactory,
while fate of the other projects is uncertain.
Status of 17 projects undertaken by the ministry's Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) is also very disappointing. The estimated cost of the projects is about Tk 34,000 crore.
Upgrading the Dhaka-Chittagong and Dhaka-Mymensingh highways is not satisfactory as both were supposed to be completed by 2012.
The future of projects like the Padma bridge, elevated expressway, BRT, Dhaka-Ashulia elevated expressway and an under-ground tunnel from Jahangir Gate to Agargaon Rokeya Sarani is still uncertain.
Although the $2.7 billion metro rail project and BRT from airport to Joydevpur is making some headway, there is little hope that construction of $2.97 billion Padma bridge and $1.1 billion elevated expressway would start in near future.
The elevated expressway has been uncertain thanks to inefficiency and indecision which put the project's fate at stake. In May this year the government reduced its length by four kilometres to avoid a conflict with Gulistan-
Jatrabari flyover.
The Italian-Thai Development Public Company Ltd is supposed to construct the four-lane expressway under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project.
Earlier on March 31, 2011, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated construction of the elevated expressway with a target to complete it in three and a half years. The guaranteed traffic on the expressway is 13,500 vehicles per day.
On the other side, BRT or faster bus service from airport to Sadarghat with nearly $277 million is very much in the primary stage and no-one could say when its construction would start. Its final design is expected in ayear.
The BRT can carry an estimated 20,000 passengers per hour in one direction.
Construction of metro rail, also known as Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), was delayed by two years due to modification of its route twice. It is crucial because it will transport around 60,000 passengers in an hour during peak hours from one corner of the capital to the other, says a Jica study.
Failure to implement
mass transport projects like metro rail, BRT and elevated expressway would result deterioration in the capital's traffic condition in the coming days.
Some small projects like Gulistan-Jatrabari, Kuril and airport road-Mirpur flyovers are expected to be completed next year, but experts say those would hardly ease the deteriorating traffic condition.
Little headway is seen in construction of a tunnel under the Karnaphuli river. The China Communication Construction Company (CCCC) has recently placed a feasibility study for a multi-lane road tunnel, proposing cost of $700 million to build the 3.5-kilometre-long tunnel at least 33 metres below the riverbed.
Once constructed, it will have a huge positive impact on communications between both sides of the river.
The government has also left out several pro-jects, including Bangabandhu Corridor on the Azimpur-Gabtoli road and underpasses from Shahbagh to Sonargaon Hotel, due to fund crunch.
After Obaidul Quader
replaced Abul Hossain in December 2011, he decided not to take up new projects and promised to implement at least some of the ongoing projects with the Padma bridge given the top priority.
Quader, who travelled across the country in the last one year to see conditions of the roads and bridges and ordered for their repair, has failed to show any magic so far.
However, his efforts to bring discipline in the transport sector and check corruption in his ministry are being hailed.
“If a ministry stands out for its poor performance, the communications ministry is up there on the chart,” observed a senior official of the ministry requesting anonymity.
Inefficiency of the communications ministry and its officials, bureaucratic infighting and lack of funds are widely blamed for the dismal performance of the ministry.
As a result, the country's communications system is on course to deteriorate further, which in turn would greatly hamper the transportation of people and goods and disrupt development activities.