Costs soar, project drags on as design changes

Two years past the initial deadline, the project period for construction of the rail tracks between Dohazari in Chittagong to Cox's Bazar via Ramu and Ramu to Gundum near Myanmar has been extended till 2020, with costs increasing over seven times.

The project has remained stalled since 2011 when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina laid the foundation stone. No progress was made later.

According to railway sources, the rail track will run 88km from Dohazari to Ramu where it will branch off and run 12km to Cox's Bazar and 28km to Gundhum in Bandarban near Myanmar border. The track will be linked to the Trans Asian Railway (TAR).

Initially the project was supposed to start on July 1, 2010 and end on December 31, 2013, but the deadline was extended till June 30, 2016 later.

Again, for some changes in the design at the direction of the prime minister, a revised development project proposal (RDPP) was prepared in early October, said sources.

The RDPP will be sent to the Planning Commission this month for endorsement by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec), said Director General of Bangladesh Railway Md Amzad Hossain.

Railway officials said it was supposed to be a metre gauge railway, but it would be a dual gauge one (metre and broad gauges).

The project cost was increased because of the change in the design which requires acquisition of more land, said Additional Project Director Chowdhury Md Isha-E-Khalil.

Initially the cost stood at Tk 1,852 crore, which increased seven-fold to Tk 13,029 crore, with the new deadline being set at June 30, 2020.

According to the original project, there was a plan to acquire about 1,411.51 acres of land, but now 1,706 acres of land will be needed.

Along the total 128km railway track under the project, nine stations were supposed to be set up; now there will be 10 stations -- Satkania, Lohagara, Harbang, Chakoria, Dulhazara, Islamabad, Ramu, Cox's Bazar, Ukhia, and Gundum, according to the railway sources.

The railway DG said there was a little uncertainty about funding, but it was settled now, adding that the government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) would jointly finance the project.