Road communications infrastructure of Bangladesh

[Maisson]

Ecnec clears for upgrading Hatirjheel-Banashri-Demra Highway

Independent Online /UNB

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) on Tuesday approved a Tk 1,209.60 crore project to support work for upgrading the Hatirjheel-Rampura Bridge-Banashri-Shekherjaiga-Amulia-Demra Highway into a four-lane one.

The approval came from the weekly Ecnec meeting held at the NEC conference room with Ecnec Chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

“Today’s (Tuesday’s) meeting approved nine projects involving a total estimated cost of Tk 4,324.61 crore,” said Planning Minister MA Mannan while briefing reporters after the meeting.

Of the total cost, Tk 4,249.09 crore will come from the national exchequer, while Tk 5.68 crore from the own fund of an implementing organisation, and the rest of Tk 69.84 crore will come as project assistance (from Korea Eximbank).

Among the approved projects, eight are fresh and the rest one is a revised one.

About the Hatirjheel-Banashri-Demra Highway project, the Planning Minister said the Department of Roads and Highways will implement the project titled ‘Public Private Partnership-based Supportive Project for Upgrading Hatirjheel-Rampura Bridge-Banashri-Shekherjaiga-Amulia-Demra Highway into Four Lane’ one by December 2024.

Once the 13.50-kilometre highway project is completed, he said, those travelling to and from Chattogram and Sylhet using the highways will be benefited.

The main project operations include some 25.47 hectares of land acquisition, compensation and rehabilitation alongside other necessary consultancy and procurement works.

Besides, the Ecnec meeting approved a project for conducting dredging at Mongla Port Channel with an estimated cost of Tk 793.73 crore to ensure the necessary depth for handling capacity of ships having 9.5 to 10 metres depth at Mongla Port Jetty.

The meeting also endorsed the first revision of Bhandal Juri Water Supply project with an additional cost of Tk 958.85 crore. The total estimated cost of the project now has been increased to Tk 1995.15 crore from the original cost of Tk 1,036.30 crore.

The rest six fresh projects approved at the meeting are Procurement of Necessary Vehicles and Equipments for Rangpur City Corporation with an estimated cost of Tk 113.69 crore, Construction of Rajshahi Wasa Bhaban with Tk 65.99 crore; Upgradation of Narayanganj Link Road (from Signboard to Chashara) into six-lane one with Tk 449.58 crore, Agricultural Development at Rajshahi Division through Expansion of Modern Technology with Tk 147.03 crore; Arial Kha River Bank Protection and Dredging under Shibchar upazila in Madaripur district with Tk 394.47 crore; and River Bank Protection near Doarabazar upazila Parishad complex, Rokkhibaor and Betura on the right side of Surma River under Sunamganj district with Tk 191.67 crore.

[Dark Carnage]

Dhaka-Sylhet multilane highway likely by 2023

Independent Online/ UNB

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen yesterday said they want to see Dhaka-Sylhet multilane and modern highway operational by 2023 which will remain fit for vehicular movement at least for 50 years.

He said the design of the four-lane highway will soon be finalised with some changes to turn the planned highway a modern one making it

cost-effective with less journey-time.

“Once the design is done quickly, tender will be floated following approval of the new design,” Dr Momen told reporters after an opinion exchange meeting at State guesthouse the Padma.

The impasse over financing of the expansion of 214-kilometre Dhaka-Sylhet Highway into four lanes ended as the Asian Development Bank agreed to fund the project.

“ADB funding is ready,” said the Foreign Minister adding that all relevant MPs have shared their ideas in the meeting.

He also said, “They’re (MPs) very accommodative, it is very good. All of them want a quick implementation of the project.”

The Foreign Minister said the entire Sylhet region would be benefited on tourism and industrial fronts once the highway project is implemented which will ultimately contribute to the national economy.

The Foreign Minister said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has expressed her desire that all highways will be eight-lane in the future.

[Maxsourav]

Better Road Safety Will Boost Economic Growth in Bangladesh

   Five winning teams of the World Bank-United Nations Road Safety Champions’ Video Competition were awarded today in Dhaka. The competition sought ideas for making Dhaka’s roads safer from young Bangladeshis between the ages of 18-23 and received an overwhelming response.

“Road fatalities are more than personal tragedies, they undermine a country’s growth and human development. Like other countries, by improving road safety, Bangladesh can further reduce poverty and accelerate economic growth,” saidWorld Bank Vice President for South Asia, Hartwig Schafer during the Award Ceremony.

While congratulating the winners, Schafer added, “We all are very impressed with the creative, practical and scalable solutions for Dhaka’s road safety proposed by the contestants. These ideas are a testament that road safety crisis is preventable. The World Bank and the United Nations will continue working together with the Government of Bangladesh to improve road safety.”

The World Bank and the government of Bangladesh are discussing a possible $250 million support for comprehensive road safety improvement.

“Road safety affects us all. With increasing number of motorized vehicles, road accidents have become the fourth leading cause of death of children between 5 and 14 in Bangladesh. So, road safety is very much a development agenda and we must act now,” saidMercy Tembon, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan.

The competition was launched in September 2019 by the Honorable Finance Minister A H M Mustafa Kamal, MP, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety Mr. Jean Todt, and Hartwig Schafer.

“SDG target 3.6 seeks to halve road traffic deaths and injuries by 2020 and SDG target 11.2 includes a focus on providing safe, sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety and with special attention to key groups such as children and the vulnerable. This joint UN and WB initiative reached out to young people to find unique ideas and solutions from their fresh perspective through the video competition. I congratulate all the young people who took part in this video contest. Your ideas contribute to the effort to find sustainable solutions and make the roads safer for all of us,” said Mia Seppo, UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh.

Schafer, Tembon and Seppo handed out certificates and prizes to the winners at the World Bank’s Dhaka Office. The contest called for participants to submit a video within 2-minutes duration with a befitting title to respond to the question, “What would you change to make the roads in Dhaka safer?”

A five-member panel of judges included Korvi Rakshand, founder of JAAGO Foundation, Iqbal Habib, Architect and Joint Secretary of Bangladesh Environment Movement (BAPA), Ayman Sadiq, founder of 10 Minutes School, Dandan Chen, World Bank Operations Manager for Bangladesh and Bhutan, and Dr Mahfuzul Huq, Technical Officer, World Health Organization.

Key themes that emerged from the contest included: introducing separate bus lanes, mobile apps, smart buses, under-the-surface barricade system, speed camera, and limiting the number of bus trips and random parking to take or drop passengers through digital means.

The winners are:

First Prize: Kazi Md. Marfu-Um Abid, Farhana Haque, and Md. Fahimur Rahman Shuvo from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET)

Second Prize: Md. Fahmid-ul-Alam Juboraj, Farnaz Fawad Hasan, and Reshad Karim Navid from BRAC University

Third Prize: Md. Taufiquzzaman Pranto from BUET

First Runner-up: Prottoy Roy, Srishti Roy Chowdhury, and Fahim Faisal Raunaq from BUET

Second Runner-up: Abrar Mahmud Chowdhury, Naweed Kabir, and Md. Fahad Wafiq from BRAC University

[Darth Nihilus]

On 1/29/2020 at 12:31 AM, Syed Amar Khan said:

Ecnec clears for upgrading Hatirjheel-Banashri-Demra Highway

Independent Online /UNB

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) on Tuesday approved a Tk 1,209.60 crore project to support work for upgrading the Hatirjheel-Rampura Bridge-Banashri-Shekherjaiga-Amulia-Demra Highway into a four-lane one.

The approval came from the weekly Ecnec meeting held at the NEC conference room with Ecnec Chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

“Today’s (Tuesday’s) meeting approved nine projects involving a total estimated cost of Tk 4,324.61 crore,” said Planning Minister MA Mannan while briefing reporters after the meeting.

Of the total cost, Tk 4,249.09 crore will come from the national exchequer, while Tk 5.68 crore from the own fund of an implementing organisation, and the rest of Tk 69.84 crore will come as project assistance (from Korea Eximbank).

Among the approved projects, eight are fresh and the rest one is a revised one.

About the Hatirjheel-Banashri-Demra Highway project, the Planning Minister said the Department of Roads and Highways will implement the project titled ‘Public Private Partnership-based Supportive Project for Upgrading Hatirjheel-Rampura Bridge-Banashri-Shekherjaiga-Amulia-Demra Highway into Four Lane’ one by December 2024.

Once the 13.50-kilometre highway project is completed, he said, those travelling to and from Chattogram and Sylhet using the highways will be benefited.

The main project operations include some 25.47 hectares of land acquisition, compensation and rehabilitation alongside other necessary consultancy and procurement works.

Besides, the Ecnec meeting approved a project for conducting dredging at Mongla Port Channel with an estimated cost of Tk 793.73 crore to ensure the necessary depth for handling capacity of ships having 9.5 to 10 metres depth at Mongla Port Jetty.

The meeting also endorsed the first revision of Bhandal Juri Water Supply project with an additional cost of Tk 958.85 crore. The total estimated cost of the project now has been increased to Tk 1995.15 crore from the original cost of Tk 1,036.30 crore.

The rest six fresh projects approved at the meeting are Procurement of Necessary Vehicles and Equipments for Rangpur City Corporation with an estimated cost of Tk 113.69 crore, Construction of Rajshahi Wasa Bhaban with Tk 65.99 crore; Upgradation of Narayanganj Link Road (from Signboard to Chashara) into six-lane one with Tk 449.58 crore, Agricultural Development at Rajshahi Division through Expansion of Modern Technology with Tk 147.03 crore; Arial Kha River Bank Protection and Dredging under Shibchar upazila in Madaripur district with Tk 394.47 crore; and River Bank Protection near Doarabazar upazila Parishad complex, Rokkhibaor and Betura on the right side of Surma River under Sunamganj district with Tk 191.67 crore.

Although I am all for the expansion of the highways, it won't be as effective if bottle-necking issues aren't solved. Having a wider road just means more vehicles piling up faster at the signals and bottle-necking points. A lot of it is attributed to illegal parking and not following the rules properly. Sadly, only solution to that is the Police being more diligent and we all know how that goes.

[Dark Carnage]

22 hours ago, Darth Nihilus said:

Although I am all for the expansion of the highways, it won't be as effective if bottle-necking issues aren't solved. Having a wider road just means more vehicles piling up faster at the signals and bottle-necking points. A lot of it is attributed to illegal parking and not following the rules properly. Sadly, only solution to that is the Police being more diligent and we all know how that goes.

Recent highway expansion designs seems to have addressed the issue. At each intersection flyovers are being constructed. Overpass and underpass are constructed at each exit and entry points. Overpass is being constructed at each local markets(haat-bazars). Separate lanes are there for slow moving vehicles.

[Maisson]

Construction, repair of 6 bridges: Tk 1,400cr saved as mega project meets deadline

Setting a rare example, the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) has completed a mega project on time, saving around Tk 1,400 crore.

Under the project, three new bridges were constructed and three old bridges on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway were repaired. The project authority had completed the construction of the new bridges on the Shitalakkhya, the Meghna and the Gumti rivers within May last year and completed repair work of the old bridges by December last year.

The project, titled “Kanchpur, Meghna and Gumti 2nd Bridge Construction and Existing Bridges Rehabilitation Project” had a deadline of December 2019.

“We have completed all work within the deadline and will hand them over to the RHD through a programme tomorrow (Sunday),” Project Director Abu Saleh Md Nuruzzaman told The Daily Star yesterday.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader, Road Transport and Highway Division Secretary Nazrul Islam, RHD Chief Engineer Ashraful Alam and Japan’s High Commissioner in Dhaka Ito Naoki are expected to join the programme at the Meghna bridge site, he added.

As per the Development Project Proposals (DPP), the cost of the project was set at Tk 8,486.94 crore, of which Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) was supposed to provide Tk 6,429.29 crore.

“But after completion of all work, project cost stood at Tk 7,098.73 crore, meaning we have saved around Tk 1,388 crore,” Nuruzzaman, also an additional chief engineer of RHD, said.

Asked about the reasons behind this success, Nuruzzaman said “Timely implementation of the project was the key.” Additionally, proper planning by the Japanese and steps taken by the government helped complete the work on time, he added.

RHD Chief Engineer Ashraful Alam said preparation at construction and planning stages by the Japanese was well ahead of time.

“Besides, they [the Japanese] were also involved in design, funding and implementation level, which helped complete the project on time,” he told The Daily Star.

Problems involving land acquisition are the main reason most mega projects are delayed, Ashraful said, adding that delay in managing fund for mega projects in many cases cause three to four years to go by forcing the authorities to redesign the project.

Repair of 6 bridges
In this project, project authority had to acquire only a little amount land and the project area was quite specific and not drawn out over a vast area, he added.

Asked whether this is a rare instance of a mega project’s completing on time, all the while saving a huge amount of money, Ashraful agreed.

“IT’S A BIG RELIEF”

Before the construction of the three new bridges, the otherwise dual carriageway between the port city and the capital shrunk to a single carriageway at the Meghna and Gumti bridges. Though the old Kanchpur bridge is technically a dual carriageway, its width is not adequate.

Given this situation, traffic often crawls to a halt as vehicles approach the bridges. The situation worsens ahead of Eid and during weekends as more vehicles get on the highway.

Travelers and truckers can find themselves stuck on the 192km highway -- the busiest in the country -- for up to 10 to 12 hours, way more than the expected five hours.

But the situation changed after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the new Kacnchpur bridge in March and Meghna and Gumti bridges in May last year. This resulted in traffic jam free roads, even during the Eid.

Repair work on the three old bridges have been completed on January 3 this year and has already been opened for public, Nuruzzaman said, adding that it took some time to hand over the bridges to accommodate schedules of the guests.

“Dhaka-Chattogram journey is quite comfortable now,” Nabit Yeasir, an employee of a private firm in Dhaka, said. Hailing from Chattogram, he is a frequent traveler on the highway.

“I always faced huge traffic jams at Kanchpur and several other places on my way to Chattogram. But things have changed now,” he told this newspaper.

Around 85 to 90 percent export and import are done via Chattogram port, but traffic congestion caused by the narrow bridges resulted in losses for businesses, MS Shekil Chowdhury, former senior vice president of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) said.

“Construction of the new bridges give us big relief,” he told The Daily Star yesterday.

[Kamikaze]

 

[Maisson]

Bangladesh signs €360m deal with ADB for international road corridor

Published: 15 Mar 2020 10:18 PM BdST Updated: 15 Mar 2020 10:18 PM BdST

The government has signed a €360 million loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank or ADB to upgrade the Dhaka-northwest international trade corridor.
Economic Relations Secretary Fatima Yasmin and ADB Country Director Manmohan Parkash signed the deal at a ceremony in Dhaka on Sunday, according to a media release from the ADB.

The assistance forms the second tranche of $1.2 billion multi tranche ADB loans for the Second South Asia Sub-regional Economic Cooperation or SASEC Dhaka-Northwest Corridor Road Project.

It is part of a priority international transport corridor that connects Bangladesh with Bhutan, India, and Nepal, Manmohan said.

The project will further strengthen regional connectivity and boost trade along with the “second busiest road artery in the country”, he said.

Transport costs, travelling time, vehicle emission, congestion and accidents will be reduced after the completion of the project, he added.

The project is expected to help Bangladesh build an efficient and modern transport system by upgrading a 190km section from Elenga via Hatikumrul to Rangpur to a four-lane highway.

[Rezwan12]

23 July, 2020 05:38:57 PM

Dhaka signs deal with Tokyo to construct, renovate 21 bridges

Independent Online/BSS

The authorities of Bangladesh and Japan today inked an agreement over the construction and renovation of 21 small and large bridges in the western region of Bangladesh with the Japanese government’s aid.

Project Director Engineer Abdus Sabur and Mritunnjoy Ghoshal of Japanese construction company signed the treaty on behalf of their respective sides at the project office at Banani here.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader, Japanese Ambassador in Dhaka Ito Naoki and Hayakawa Yuho of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Bangladesh Office joined the deal signing ceremony through videoconferencing.

Earlier, the Western Bangladesh Bridge Improvement Project was taken to construct 61 small and medium range bridges in 23 districts in the country’s western region with the Japanese government funds.

Under the project, construction work of 25 bridges has already been completed and works for 35 more bridges are going to end, said a press release of the road transport and bridges ministry.

These bridges will strengthen road networks in the western region by reducing time and cost for travelling and transporting goods, it said.

Mentioning the continuous cooperation of Japan in Bangladesh’s road infrastructural development, Obaidul Quader, also Awami League general secretary, said as trusted friends, Bangladesh and Japan maintain very good bilateral relations.

Under the Japanese financial support, Metrorail Route-6 is being implemented to ease the traffic gridlock in the capital Dhaka, the minister said.

Besides, he said, constructions of 2nd Kanchpur, 2nd Meghna and 2nd Gumti bridges on the country’s life line Dhaka-Chattogram highway have been completed with financial aid of Japan.

Quader said Japanese finance in upgrading the highway from Chattogram to Cox’s Bazar, a city of tourist attractions having the longest sea-beach at a stretch, has already been approved in principle.

The minister said the construction of two field hospitals has been completed for treatment of metro-rail project manpower in coronavirus (Covid-19) cases to carry on the project work amidst the current situation. Work is going on for setting up viaduct on metro-rail tracks and for electricity connectivity, he added.

Turning to contemporary politics, the AL general secretary said in the wake of the flood situation, BNP is talking absurdly instead of staying beside the affected people.

Mentioning the government’s all-out continuous responses to stand by the marooned people in floods, the minister said cluster plan is being taken to compensate losses in different sectors, including agriculture, and rehabilitate the victims after the flood.

Quader said the government welcomes any constructive criticism in the national interest but a vested quarter is out to spread rumors through social media and at home and abroad which is completely illogical and apparently it is for tarnishing the country’s image at the international arena.

 

http://www.theindependentbd.com/post/250656

[Rezwan12]

18 August, 2020 09:25:31 AM / LAST MODIFIED: 18 August, 2020 01:05:52 PM

Govt plans to upgrade country’s road infrastructures

UNB, Dhaka

The government has taken a plan to increase allocation for the transport and communications sector to Tk 773.65 billion in 2022-23 fiscal year, with an average 14.65 percent increase each year, since road connectivity is considered as the most important factor for the rapid development of a country.

The government gives utmost importance to road connectivity as it thinks developed and well-connected transport system is a prerequisite to elevating the country to a developed one by 2041. 

According to a government document, the allocation for the sector in the running 2020-21 fiscal year is Tk 584.88 billion, which was Tk 645.79 billion in the previous 2019-20 fiscal.

Official sources said the allocation in the current fiscal year saw a cut due to the COVID-19 pandemic as the government has announced 19 stimulus packages, worth Tk 1.03 lakh crore, for various sectors, which is 3.7 percent of the GDP of 2019-20 fiscal.

The allocation for the next 2021-22 fiscal will be Tk 707.33 billion for the road transport sector. The government has spent Tk 400.76 billion in 2017-18 fiscal year for the transport and communications sector while the allocation for 2018-19 fiscal was Tk 468.88 billion.

The government has taken a mid-term plan to upgrade all the national highways of the country to four-lane ones, strengthening those further alongside constructing bridges and culverts.

The Bridges Division is already implementing various projects like Padma Multipurpose Bridge, tunnel beneath the Karnaphuli River, Dhaka-Ashulia elevated expressway, Dhaka Elevated Expressway, Dhaka Subway and Dhaka East West Elevated Expressway.

As of March 2020, the document says, 80 percent construction work on the Padma Multipurpose Bridge project has been completed.

Aiming to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 and transform Bangladesh into a developed country by 2041, the Road Transport and Highways Division has taken steps to upgrade all the important highways to four-lane ones or even more.

This division has also taken 10 projects for widening 1,140 kilometres of regional highways and another 10 projects for widening and maintaining the standard of district highways.

Besides, the document says, the government gives immense importance to the railway sector as well to transform the railways into a pro-people and modern mass transportation system.

In this regard, the government is implementing a 30-year masterplan (2016-2045) involving Tk 5,53,662 crore.

Under a mid-term plan, the Railways Ministry has taken an initiative for constructing new rail lines and bridges, rehabilitating the existing rail lines and bridges, constructing and remodeling new station yards.

The document mentions that the Ministry of Shipping has taken numerous plans and projects, aiming to make internal and foreign trade competitive and cost-effective through developing inland waterways, sea and land ports, important channels and necessary infrastructures on priority basis.

Steps have also been taken for introducing naval traffic management and information management, also under a mid-term plan.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism has prioritised the job of upgrading civil aviation to international standard for ensuring safe and reliable structures for passengers, tourists and transportation of cargoes.

Steps are also there to improve the standard and ability of domestic and international airports, according to the official document.

 

http://www.theindependentbd.com/post/251783

[Rezwan12]

12:00 AM, October 01, 2020 / LAST MODIFIED: 02:26 AM, October 01, 2020

Korean joint venture may build Joydebpur-Mymensingh expressway

Tuhin Shubhra Adhikary and Rejaul Karim Byron

A South Korean joint venture is likely to be engaged in turning the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway into an expressway under a public private partnership (PPP) initiative.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs yesterday approved a proposal to convert an 87-kilometre section from Gazipur's Joydebpur to Mymensingh into an expressway under a government-to-government contract.

The committee, led by Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, gave the approval at a virtual meeting.

An expressway is a highway especially planned for high-speed traffic, usually with no or very few intersections, limited points of access or exit, and a divider between lanes for traffic moving in opposite directions.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on March 12 opened the country's first-ever expressway running from Dhaka to Faridpur's Bhanga upazila.  However, users will get the full benefit of the expressway once the construction work of the Padma bridge is complete.

South Korea has already selected three companies -- SK E&C, Korean Expressway Corporation and Lotte E&C -- for implementing the Joydebpur-Mymensingh project. The SK E&C will be the lead company, said an official of the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges.

The preliminary cost of the new project has been estimated to be Tk 3,353 crore, said an official of the Roads and Highways Department (RHD), adding that the estimate may vary. As the project would not require too much land, the duration of the project will be relatively short, he said.

Under the project titled "Improvement of Dhaka (Joydebpur)-Mymensingh into Expressway with Service Lane on Both Sides through PPP," the authority aims to ensure better connectivity between the capital and Mymensingh division, where 10 economic zones will be established, said the RHD officials.

Once complete, this would be the first expressway in Bangladesh with eight lanes – four main lanes, two emergency and two service lanes, they said. It will also be the first road in the country with dedicated emergency lanes, they added.

Public Private Partnership Authority (PPPA) and Korea Overseas Infrastructure and Urban Development (KIND), a Korean organisation for providing support to global PPP businesses, signed a memorandum of understanding in April last year.

The RHD submitted two projects and South Korea so far accepted the Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway project, said Shishir Kanti Routh, additional chief engineer of the RHD.

Then the RHD, following the endorsement of the PPPA and through the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges, recently sent the proposal to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs for "in-principle approval", he said.

Now, an adviser would be hired to carry out a detailed feasibility study and physical and financial assessments before the final contract is signed, he added.

WHY EXPRESSWAY?

Between July 2010 and June 2017, the RHD had upgraded the two-lane Dhaka-Mymensingh highway to a four-lane one spending around Tk 1,800 crore.

However, the cost of the project was Tk 902 crore when the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved the project in June 2010 and the deadline was June 2013.

But poor development project profiling forced the authority to change the cost and deadline of the project several times, according to a report of the Implementation Monitoring & Evaluation Division (IMED) of the planning ministry published in June this year.

The IMED report mentioned poor maintenance and presence of a huge number of illegal markers on the road and absence of mechanisms to control overloading as poor aspects of the project.

The report also recommended upgrading the national highway to six or eight lanes as a huge number of industrial units had developed on both sides of the road.

Besides, at least 193 intersections, 28 school zones and many markets and other structures along a 16.5 km section of the four-lane highway were slowing down traffic on the road, according to a road safety audit conducted by the RHD in 2017-2018.

The average number of vehicles running on the highway in a day in 2019 was 27,663.

Talking to The Daily Star in March this year, Shishir Kanti Routh, also a member of the RHD's PPP cell, said some 10 economic zones would be established in Mymensingh, Netrakona, Sherpur and Jamalpur districts.

There are also three or four land ports in the districts. So, the traffic on the highway would increase once the economic zones were established.

For the first time, the RHD also plans to install an Intelligent Transport System on the expressway to learn about accidents or other incidents immediately after they occur. It will allow the department to take quick action to prevent disruption to traffic flow, he added.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase yesterday approved four procurement and one cancellation proposals.

The four procurement proposals comprise a cost of Tk 339.26 lakh. Of it, Tk 160.29 crore will be spent from government funds while Tk 178. 98 crore will come from Asian Development Bank and domestic banks.

Of them, one involves construction of 76 flats of 1,800 square feet at Tk 160.29 crore at Azimpur government colony (zone A) for government officials while another for the procurement of 30,000 tonnes of urea fertiliser from Kafco, Bangladesh at Tk 84.63 crore.

The third is on the procurement of 25,000 tonnes of urea fertiliser from Saudi Basic Industries Corporation at a cost of Tk 56.96 crore and the last is for procurement of 25,000 tonnes of urea fertiliser for Tk 57.81 crore from Ruwais Fertilizer Industries (Fertiglobe) of the United Arab Emirates.

The cancellation proposal was on "Developing proper standards of Jhenaidah-Kushtia-Pakshi-Dashuria national highway including four lanes of Kushtia municipal part". The proposal was cancelled as only one bidder submitted tender for the project.

Responding to a question from a reporter, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said the government would give priority to businesses during the pandemic. If business cannot be saved, then the banks would not be able to recover their loans, he said.

Bangladesh Bank has extended the deadline for businesspeople to pay their loan instalments. According to Kamal, the banks made adequate profits before the pandemic, so a little loss afterwards will not lead to any massive damage. 

 

https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/korean-joint-venture-may-build-joydebpur-mymensingh-expressway-1970409