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Dhaka: The ‘Elenga-Hatikumrul-Rangpur Highway Upgradation to Four Lane’ project has been extended for another three years. At the same time, the cost of the project has increased by Tk 4,073 crore.
As a result, works on that highway will be completed in December 2024.
The cost of the project carried out in 2016 was estimated at Tk 11,699 crore. As a result of the increase in spending, it is now Rs 16,72 crore.
The ECNEC meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Tuesday (October 28) approved a total of Tk 5,169 crore for three projects, including this one.
ECNEC Prime Minister and President Sheikh Hasina chaired the ECNEC meeting from Ganobhaban. On the other hand, the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar NEC conference room, senior secretary of the planning department. Asadul Islam presented the general theme of the project.
The Elenga to Rangpur Highway is a four-lane highway to boost trade with India and Nepal, including the expansion of industrial plants in North Bengal. The Rangpur Highway will play an important role in expanding trade with India-Nepal through Burimari and Banglabandha.
Work on the project began in September 2017. Although four years have passed, the economic and physical progress of the project is not satisfactory. The project was supposed to be completed in August 2021.
The progress of the work has been less due to the delay in the monsoon season, Kovid-19 and acquisition of land, said the interested party. The project is being implemented in the districts of Tangail, Sirajganj, Bogra, Gaibandha and Rangpur.
The study and design work for roads and bridges has not yet been completed. Supervision of works at the field level is ongoing. Construction of roads and bridges has just started in six construction packages. Under the project, 26 bridges with a length of 1,461 meters, a railway flyover of 411 meters and 11 steel bridges will be built. A 1,536-meter flyover will be built at Elenga, 398 meters at the Kaddar junction and a flyover at Gobindaganj. In addition, construction work for two new flyovers has been added in the Bangabandhu EPZ of Sirajganj and in the Palashbari area of Gobindganj.
In order to expand trade and commerce, six new Bangladeshi roads will be added in the proposed Economic Corridor between the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) and Bangladesh, India, China and Myanmar. The total length of these roads will be 600 kilometers. The 190 km road is part of it. This highway can be used to enter India through Rangpur-Saidpur-Banglabandha. This corridor will be one of the main contributors to the expansion of trade with Bhutan and Nepal. The route will also play an important role in facilitating international and regional trade.
Under the project, slow moving vehicle traffic (SMVT) lanes will be built on both sides of the route. Overpasses will be built at three major locations along the 190 km route where traffic is heavy. The length of the flyover will be 2,835 meters.
The other two projects approved at the ECNEC meeting are the project ‘Sonapur (Noakhali) -Sonagazi (Feni) Joarganj (Chittagong) Road Development’ at a cost of Taka 107 crore and the project ‘Road Safety with Traffic Infrastructure Development in Dhaka North City Corporation Area ‘at a cost of Taka 319 crore.
Bangladesh time: 1826 hours, October 26, 2020
MIS / AA
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