Government high-ups asked for completing the megaproject on Dohazari-Cox's Bazar-Ramu-Ghundum route faster now as Bangladesh Railway sought two more years to link the country's eastern regional corridor, officials said.
The Prime Minister in a recent communication asked the ministry to complete it by June next year and inaugurate the much-awaited Dohazari-Cox's Bazar railway for the public, said a Ministry of Railway (MoR) official.
Meanwhile, the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) also has tagged a condition of time extension of the top-priority project up to June 2023.
Currently, the Tk 180.34-billion project's execution deadline is June 2022, which is destined to be overrun sans reaching the finishing point.
The state-run rail operator recently sought a time extension for two more years up to June 2024 from the Planning Commission (PC) without extending the project cost.
The PC has requested the IMED to review the time-extension proposal of the BR before giving the nod, as top brass wants it in place as faster as possible now.
"We have been reviewing the time-extension proposal of the much-awaited Dohazari-Cox'sbazar-Ghundum railway project. We want to ensure that the dual-gauge rail track is completed by June 2023," says a senior IMED official.
He mentions that the project office has already confirmed them (IMED) that they would complete the railway line by June next year and another one year will be treated as defect liability period (DLP).
According to official estimate, the BR has completed 67 per cent of the physical works on the dual-gauge railway track, meant to connect the tourist city of Cox'sbazar with the port city of Chittagong.
The government in the meantime has extended the execution deadline of the project on two occasions.
The railway authorities started work for the track installation in fiscal year (FY) 2014-15. The government approved the project in 2010.
"The coronavirus and some other factors have affected our project work. So, we need at least one more year to complete the project," says a senior official at the BR.
This fast-track megaproject is one of the top-priority schemes as it would facilitate easy access to the tourist city for local and foreign tourists and connect Myanmar as a regional corridor.
Initially, the project was delayed by nearly five years due to funding complexities.
The government had approved the project in 2010 for implementing it by December 2013. As the BR failed to start work within the preliminary timeline by December 2013, the government extended the deadline up to June 2016 without enhancing the cost.
Following the failure for a second time, the government extended the deadline up to June 2022, increasing the cost nearly 10 times to Tk 180.34 billion that includes ADB financing of Tk 116.55 billion.
The BR official claims the project work is progressing at a higher pace and the track is likely to be opened for passengers within next one year.
"But we want another year as DLP for the contractor to take care of the operations of the newly constructed tracks," he says.
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