Dhaka Bypass project bottlenecked in land transfer delays by govt agencies

Infograph: TBS

The Dhaka Bypass Expressway, the country's first public-private partnership (PPP) road project, is encountering challenges in land transfer from two government agencies – Bangladesh Railway and Water Development Board.

Of the 312.48 acres required for the 48km road upgrade from Bhogra intersection in Gazipur to Madanpur on Dhaka-Chattogram highway, only 95.10 acres (30%) have been handed over to investors over seven years.

A total of 20.22 acres have been acquired out of 37.6 acres from private possessions and Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) has handed over 74.88 acres to the implementing agency Roads and Highways Department (RHD).

However, the transfer of 200 acres of land from the Water Development Board and the Bangladesh Railway is still unresolved.

Extended talks between the RHD and the Ministry of Railways have been going on for years without any agreement having been signed, even after a two-week deadline from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) earlier this year.

According to sources, the rail ministry did not review the PPP Authority's land transfer draft, leading to an inter-ministerial meeting today, involving representatives from the ministries of roads and railways, the PMO, and the PPP Authority.

Earlier in July this year, Mohammed Abdul Wahid, project director and additional chief engineer at the RHD, told The Business Standard that the Railway and Water Development Board had agreed in principle to transfer land, and the agreement process would conclude shortly.

Responding to the delay in signing the agreement four months later, he told TBS yesterday, "Although there is some delay in the signing of the agreement due to procedural reasons, there has been no problem in advancing the project."

The project director further mentioned that there was a target to inaugurate the Bhogra to Purbachal section in December this year.

However, he acknowledged that achieving this target would not be possible.

"At the end of August, more than 45% progress had been made in the main project. The work of the first part of the project is scheduled to be completed by next June," he added.

Shamsul Haque, director of Buet's Accident Research Institute, said it is the government's responsibility to allocate vacant land for PPP projects.

"Land assurance is crucial for private companies investing in these projects, impacting both capital and profitability," he said.

Shamsul Haque also warned that land transfer complications between government agencies can deter foreign investments in the country.

Delays from the start

A survey conducted by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said the two-lane road carries about 18,211 vehicles per day, of which about 60% are trucks and trailers. This number will increase to 31,711 in 2025 and 85,969 in 2044.

The Dhaka Bypass Road connects Dhaka-Mymensingh highway and Dhaka-Rangpur highway with Dhaka-Sylhet highway and Dhaka-Chattogam highway as well as Purbachal Expressway.

Upgrading it to four lanes, as suggested by the ADB, would enhance local and international trade by boosting transportation capabilities for goods in Sylhet, Chattogram and the northern regions of Dhaka.

Recognising its significance, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in principle approved the project in September 2012 to transform the road into a four-lane expressway with a service lane under PPP arrangements.

A separate support project was approved in 2016 for land acquisition and utility shifting at an outlay of Tk236.50 crore from government funds.

However, due to complications in land acquisition, the duration of the subsidiary project was extended by four years till June 2024. The cost of the project also increased by 185% to Tk674.74 crore.

Over half of the tasks in the support project are still pending, and the deadline is less than a year away.

The main project has also been delayed step by step with the support project being delayed due to land related complications.

As of August this year, the progress of the main project was 45%.

Under the agreement signed in December 2018, the road was supposed to open to traffic in 2022. Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader laid the foundation stone of the project in December 2019.

It was later decided to renew the contract in May 2022 and open the entire road for traffic by July 2025.

Meetings to resolve issues

A PPP Authority senior official told TBS that an inter-ministerial meeting was held earlier this year aimed at finalising the land transfer.

Again, in a June meeting at the Prime Minister's Office, a three-week timeline was set for completing the transfer process.

In a recent project implementation committee meeting, it was reported that inspections by the two agencies had concluded and the signing of the memorandum is pending their feedback.

The official noted that aside from land and electricity pole transfers, there were no other complications in the project.

According to the latest progress report of the project, work on the section from Kanchan Bridge to Madanpur is dependent on the progress of land transfer.

The report also identified the issue of land as the biggest challenge in implementing the project.

Project overview

The consortium of Sichuan Road and Bridge, Shamim Enterprise, and UDC Construction is implementing the project.

At the time of the signing of the agreement, the estimated cost of the physical project was Tk3,039 crore. Of the amount, the government was supposed to provide Tk224 crore as viability gap financing.

In April last year, the Dhaka Bypass Expressway Development Company Limited signed a financing agreement with China Development Bank (CDB) and Bangladesh Infrastructure Finance Fund Ltd (BIFFL).

As part of the deal, CDB will provide Tk1,614 crore and BIFFL Tk1,075 crore, sources said.

The consortium signed a 25-year contract with the government in December 2018 to develop the infrastructure within a 38-month period and collect tolls from the expressway for 22 years.