Fund constraint stalls road development projects in Ctg
Work on two major roads going at snail's pace
Expansion work of Oxygen-Hathazari road, to be upgraded to four lanes, is still ongoing after about two years since construction started. The photo was taken from Fatehabad area in Chittagong recently. Photo: Prabir Das
Fund constraint has stalled several road development projects being implemented by the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) in Chittagong. This fiscal year the RHD demanded about Tk 55 crore for its project but the department was only approved of Tk 25 crore. Officials in the department complained that in addition to the shortage of funds, so much time has passed for construction of its projects that their costs need to be revised. Work on two major roads at the entry points of the port city from northern and southern upazilas of the district have almost come to a halt. Construction of Bahaddarhat to third Karnaphuli Approach Road and Oxygen-Hathazari four-lane road has been proceeding at a snail's pace mostly due to shortage of funds. With the communications ministry sanctioning around Tk 7 crore for the Bahaddarhat to third Karnaphuli Approach Road this fiscal year, the project has so far only received about Tk 11 crore out of the total Tk 153 crore allocated to it. Shortage of funds has slowed down the construction work of the road, which was to be completed by this December, as only 10 percent of the work has been done so far, sources said. RHD expressed frustration over the fund crunch and said if the project is not completed on time then vehicles plying on Bahaddarhat flyover, which is under construction and is expected to be ready by December, will face enormous traffic jams. Meanwhile, work of Oxygen-Hathazari four-lane road project is in a similar state. In this fiscal year RHD received approval of Tk 10 crore for the project against their demand of Tk 25 crore. Though the project started in 2009, till date it has only received Tk 21 crore out of Tk 129 crore, said sources. Oxygen- Hathazari road, which connects the city with northern upazilas, was initially supposed to be upgraded to six lanes but later it was reduced to four. Then government decided to only construct four lanes in areas owned by RHD. Communications Minister Obaidul Quader, during his recent visit to Chittagong, said it is not possible to set up four lanes according to the project. Roads department is only working on the portion that is owned by them, he added. Though the minister did not mention the reason behind this decision, sources of RHD department said the decision was taken due to fund shortage. A higher official of the department told The Daily Star that only 15 percent of the project has been completed so far though the road was to be finished by 2013. Rana Priya Barua, executive engineer of RHD, Chittagong, told The Daily Star that they would be able to set up four lanes except at three to four points of the road. RHD sources said they would get funds in four instalments for four projects. Two of these projects are the two roads at the city's entry points and the other two projects are Kalindi Rani road of Rangunia upazila and work on Kaptai road. Tk 5 crore and Tk 3 crore have been sanctioned separately for Kalindi Rani road and for construction of several small bridges and culverts at Kaptai road. MAN Siddique, secretary of communications ministry, told The Daily Star that they sanctioned funds according to guidelines of finance ministry. Communications ministry depends on finance ministry regarding distribution of funds for its various projects, he said. He also said when they find that a particular project cannot be implemented due to shortage of funds, they submit additional budget in the next following Annual Development Plan (ADP) for the project.
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