Tuhin Shubhra Adhikary

A high-powered taskforce, formed to reduce road crashes and bring discipline in road transport sector, is going to hold its second meeting next week, a year after its first meeting.

The migrant workers’ crisis, which emerged after the outbreak of novel coronavirus, further deepened with the government response marred by inappropriate decisions coupled with delayed and inadequate actions.

For the first time in the country, the government is going to hire a private company to check motor vehicles’ fitness with machines.

The government has planned to expand the Dhaka-Sylhet highway into four-lane without keeping adequate overpasses and underpasses, which may reduce the service and productivity of the road.

China Railway Group Limited, also known as CREC, the contractor of the Padma Bridge Rail Link Project (PBRLP), will have to pay for damaging the newly-built Dhaka-Mawa-Bhanga expressway by operating overloaded trucks with construction materials.

The Road Transport Act-2018 stipulates up to six months’ imprisonment or a fine of Tk 25,000 or both for driving a vehicle without an updated fitness certificate. The law also specifies a fine of Tk 10,000 for not having a tax token.

To get a driving licence from the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, an aspiring driver is supposed to pass three tests -- written, practical and viva.

Road transport and traffic management, over a period of time, has gone through major changes, but road safety remains one of the most serious social concerns in Bangladesh and emerges as a “man-made epidemic”.

The railways ministry has asked Bangladesh Railway (BR) to remove project director Ramzan Ali from the Akhaura-Laksham Dual Gauge Double Line Project after a corruption case was filed against him.

Bangladesh Railway (BR) has asked the Chinese contractor of Padma Bridge Rail Link Project (PBRLP) to change the project’s chief, claiming that his work pattern was causing problems in the project implementation.

The road transport and bridges ministry has asked the finance ministry to reconsider its decision to halt fund disbursement for “low-priority projects” of the Annual Development Programme (ADP).

With railways projects under Indian Line of Credit and grants already facing delays, the project directors have pointed out some issues in implementing the work, which was taken up to boost connectivity among neighbouring countries.

The Prime Minister’s Office has formed a committee to review negotiated contract costs of three railways projects and whether the projects should go ahead as they have been planned.

Ayesha Siddika Minni, the widow of slain Rifat Sharif, and five others were sentenced to death yesterday for killing the youth in broad daylight in Barguna in June last year.

A South Korean joint venture is likely to be engaged in turning the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway into an expressway under a public private partnership (PPP) initiative.

A project undertaken more than five years ago to convert the metre gauge railway line into dual gauge from Akhaura to Sylhet is likely to see further delay as questions have been raised over its rationale and high cost.

With the cabinet division having already directed Padma Bridge Rail Link Project (PBRLP) authority to redesign viaducts due to the poor vertical and horizontal clearance, the railways minister, who visited the site along with planning minister yesterday, tried to down play the problem.

Two and a half years ago, the government had approved a project to build a double rail line along the existing single track from Khulna to Darshana.

With infections and deaths from Covid-19 still far from over, a high-powered technical committee has warned that a “second wave” of coronavirus infections may be coming, advising the government to prepare a roadmap and take all-out preparations to prevent the possible resurgence.

Authorities of a project under the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) have proposed building 10 more bridges under their ongoing-project as they were able to save Tk 286 crore so far.