4 on schedule, others may miss deadline
The eight fast track projects being implemented by the government are seeing mixed progress with four having made significant progress as of November this year while the rest may not see timely completion.
The much talked about Padma Bridge was opened for vehicular movement earlier in June with only 4.5 per cent of the physical work now remaining.
The government had approved the Padma Multipurpose Bridge project on August 20, 2007, to connect Bangladesh's southwestern region with Dhaka via road and rail.
Construction of the 6.15-kilometre-long two-level viaduct began in November 2014.
With an estimated cost of Tk 30,193 crore, the project achieved 95.50 per cent physical progress while a total of Tk 28,538 crore has been spent as of November, according to a report from the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) on the progress of fast track projects.
Physical works on some components of the project, including river training, are still remaining, it said.
An official of the Bridges Division said the project cost may rise a bit mainly for the devaluation of taka against the US dollar as well as for completing some unfinished works. Meanwhile, the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project in Pabna recorded physical progress of 52.90 per cent and financial progress of 50.59 per cent as of November.
The project, with an estimated cost of Tk 11,309,291 crore, was delayed a bit due to the Russia-Ukraine war but construction is currently going on in full-swing.
In the latest development, flushing of active and passive safety systems with the open reactor commenced at unit-1 of the power plant on December 8 as a part of its pre-commissioning, according to a press release issued by Russia's Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation.
The engineering division of Rosatom is implementing the Rooppur project as its general designer and contractor. The project will host two nuclear power units, each of which will have 1,200-megawatt generation capacities.
However, the plant may face delays in commencing commercial operations as the infrastructure development for the power evacuation facility, scheduled to be completed by December next year, has seen only 27 per cent financial progress and 45 per cent physical progress in nearly five years.
Shawkat Akbar, project director of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, earlier said they would not be able run the plant until the power grid upgradation is done under the infrastructure development facility.
The Dhaka Metro Rail project, known officially as the Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development Project Line 6, has recorded physical progress of 65 per cent while making 61.36 per cent financial progress, the report showed.
M A N Siddique, managing director of the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL), yesterday told reporters that the metro rail will soon be inaugurated at the convenience of the Prime Minister.
The Uttara-Agargaon section of the project will be inaugurated at the end of this December while construction up to Motijheel is scheduled to be completed by December next year.
"A proposal has been sent through the ministry. We are also waiting. We can get the date any day. Everyone will be informed as soon as the date is fixed," he said.
"Keeping that in mind, all preparations are being made for the inauguration. We will be fully ready by the third week of December," Siddique added.
Around 89.58 per cent of the physical work on the Maitree Super Thermal Power Project (2X660 MW) at Rampal has been completed till November with a total of Tk 12,569 crore, or 78.53 per cent of the project fund, being spent so far.
The total estimated cost of the project is Tk 16,000 crore.
The Payra Deep Seaport project involving an estimated Tk 4,374.47 crore achieved 87.71 per cent physical progress and 82 per cent financial progress as of November.
The Tk 39,246 crore Padma Bridge Rail Link Project saw 67 per cent physical progress with spending of Tk 26,032 crore, achieving 66.33 per cent financial progress till November, the report said.
The Tk 51,854 crore Moheshkhali-Matarbari integrated infrastructure development initiative project has made 69.26 per cent physical progress with financial progress of 56 per cent.
Construction of the Single Line Dual Gauge Railway Track from Dohazari to Cox's Bazar via Ramu and Ramu to Gundum near Myanmar saw 77 per cent physical progress and 39.37 per cent financial progress so far.
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