Bogra Town Second Bypass Road

5-year project not finished in decade

19 July 2009, 17:00 PM

Hasibur Rahman Bilu, Bogra

A woman drying paddy at Banani Matidali Moar on Bogra Town Second Bypass Road as the road is yet to be opened for vehicles five years after expiry of the original project period.Photo: STAR

Roads and Highways Department (RHD) of Bogra Division has already spent additional Tk 21.57 crore as the five-year project for construction of 'Bogra Town Second Bypass Road' has not completed in 10 years. The project that started in 2000 at an estimated cost of Tk 27.96 crore has seen time extension several times and consequently the cost has gone up, said Bogra Division RHD Executive Engineer Md Abul Hossain Pramanik. The RHD will need another Tk 3.51 crore in 2009-2010 financial year to complete the project, he said. When the RHD Bogra Division started work to construct 15.80 kilometre road from Bonani to Matidali Moar under 'Bogra Town Second Bypass Project' in 2000, the cost of per kilometre road construction was estimated at Tk 1.77 crore, RHD sources said. But the authorities extended period of the five-year project up to 2007 and it led to the rise of per km road construction cost to Tk 2.91 crore. As the project period saw further extension up to 2009-2010 financial year, the construction cost increased to Tk 3.13 crore per km, RHD sources said. The department also spent Tk 80 lakh for maintenance work of 7.50 km road under a special programme a few months ago. According to the RDH Bogra division office, RHD has already spent Tk 49.53 crore against the earlier estimate of Tk 27.96 crore for construction of the 15.80 km road. A huge amount of money has been misused during construction work under the ongoing project, a senior RHD official said, adding that a bridge was unnecessarily constructed at Suzabad during the project period. People are often seen drying paddy on the completed portions of the road as it is yet to be opened for transport.