SIFAYET ULLAH, Ctg

The Kalurghat–Chaktai road and dyke project in Chattogram has remained unfinished for nine years despite four deadline extensions.

Stipulated to be completed within three years, the 8.5km road and dyke project from the Kalurghat Bridge intersection to the Chaktai Canal in Chattogram was initiated in July 2017.

However, a myriad of issues, including prolonged delays, cost overruns, and complications over land acquisition, have stalled the project time and again over the past nine years, raising questions about planning, coordination, and accountability in public infrastructure projects.

“Repeated extensions mean the project was not properly planned before its approval,” said Delwar Majumder, an urban planner and former chairman of the Chattogram centre of the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB).

“Such delays not only increase costs but also prevent the project from serving the public as intended,” he added.

The Chattogram Development Authority (CDA), the implementing agency, took up the project to improve connectivity and mitigate waterlogging in the port city by building a four-lane alternative road and an embankment along the Karnaphuli riverbank.

According to project documents, the initial estimated cost was Tk 2,275.52 crore, with the deadline set for June 2020.

However, after two revisions and four deadline extensions, the cost rose to Tk 2,779.39 crore, and the latest deadline has been set for June this year.

The authorities, however, said the project is unlikely to be completed by the latest deadline and would have to be extended further till December this year.

The project includes two major components: construction of the road and the dyke. Additional works include six bus bays, three pedestrian overpasses, 353-metre connecting roads, 9,165-metre New Jersey barriers, 15,057 square metres of walkways, seven pump houses, seven electrical substations, 1,084 LED streetlights, and 12 sluice gates with water pumps.

Visiting the project sites recently, this correspondent observed that sluice gate construction and earth-filling work were underway at Kalurghat.

At Chaktai, while road and dyke construction were completed, pump installation work was still in progress.

Data from the project show that about 85 percent of the total work has been completed.

Spectra Engineers Limited is carrying out the construction work.

“Our work is ongoing in full swing, but CDA failed to allocate land on time. This is causing the delay,” said an engineer of the firm, requesting anonymity.

“It seems like a never-ending project,” said Lokman Hossain, a resident of Kolpolok Residential Area.

However, despite the delays, the project is already attracting local visitors.

Several families were seen visiting the riverbank.

“It’s a new place to spend time with family near the river in a natural environment,” said Tanvir Chowdhury, a government employee who came with his wife and son.

“Around 90 percent of the work for dyke construction has been completed. We faced land acquisition issues from the beginning, which stalled the project work. Several land acquisition cases are still pending. We hope to complete the project by this December,” said Razib Das, project director and executive engineer of CDA.