The construction work on Tk 8,703 crore Dhaka Elevated Expressway will commence from August this year. Communication Minister Obaidul Quader disclosed it while talking to the newsmen at his office in Dhaka on Tuesday. He said the 40 km-long expressway would be completed in three phases. In the first phase, 8 kilometres expressway would be built from Shahjalal International Airport to Tejgaon. The expressway from Tejgaon to Kamalapur would be built in the second phase while the highway from Kamalapur to Shanir Akhra would be constructed in the third phase.
The project will have 33 ramps having a length of 17 kilometres. About the financing of the project, the minister said it would be built under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and government would provide Tk 2258 crore.
Responding to a question, the minister said, in the metropolitan Dhaka, about 114 thousand vehicles were plying without fitness certificates and the police was given the list to take tough action in this regard.
Construction on the Tk 8703 crore ambitious infrastructure was supposed to start by July 19, 2011 this year, but the starting of the construction was delayed for various reasons.
Explaining the delay, officials of the Communications Ministry said, the authorities could not acquire 18 acres of land along the 21 kilometre alignment of the expressway and it was also facing resistance from the owners of 258 structures between Shahjalal International Airport and Kutubkhali that need to be demolished.
The authorities also could not ensure 25 acres of land to be used as the construction yard in a convenient location.
Earlier on January 19, 2011, the government signed a deal with Ital-Thai Development Company Ltd to construct the four-lane expressway from Shahjalal International Airport to Kutubkhali on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway to be constructed under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project.
On June 27, 2011, Dhaka Elevated Expressway Project (Land Acquisition) Bill-2011 was passed in Parliament to prevent installation of any structures on the site selected for the billion dollars project.
The bill was passed through voice votes soon after Land Minister Rezaul Karim Hira proposed the bill for passage.
During the passage of the bill, the minister said, efforts are on to construct houses and other structures on the selected site. “The government will have to spend a huge sum of money to acquire illegally occupied land.”
Chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on land AKM Mozammel Haque placed the report with a proposal for passage of the bill.
Earlier on June 21, the Land Minister introduced the bill for framing necessary provisions on land acquisition for the project.
The rule 5 (1) of the proposed bill says that none could claim the compensation if any house or installation was established or types of land were changed which would go against the public interest. In this case, if any person or organisation claimed compensation, it would be rejected by the deputy commissioner, the bill proposed.
The bill also proposed for making provision to file appeal with the deputy commissioner by the aggrieved person within seven days after denial of the claim.
As per the agreement, the company must begin construction within six months of signing the deal. At the same time, Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA), the implementing authority of the project, must hand over one-third of the project land to the constructor within that period.
-With The Independent input
