Land acquisition delays hamper expansion project

Delays in land acquisition and slow working pace on Tangail-Rangpur highway has been hampering the progress of a project to expand it to four lanes.

With the required land still not being acquisitioned, narrow roads are causing bottlenecks at two points on the highway -- on 1-km stretch each at Gaibandha's Gobindaganj and Palashbari upazila headquarters -- according to passengers and transport workers.

Meanwhile, construction work on the 13-km stretch from Tangail's Alenga to Bangabandhu Bridge is underway at a snail's pace.

The government began expansion of the 190-km highway on Elenga-Hatikumrul-Rangpur route in 2016, under the South-Asia Sub-Regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Road Link Project-II, initially slated to be completed by August 2021.

The project deadline was later extended till December 2024.

Originally, project authorities planned to construct three flyovers, 26 bridges, 161 culverts and an overpass on the expanded route. However, the plan was later revised to construct six flyovers, 32 bridges, 180 culverts and two overpasses, among other alternations.

As such, the project's estimated cost also increased by 45 percent, from around Tk 11, 899 crores to Tk 18,679 crores.

So far, only 70 percent of the project has been completed amid a sluggish pace at several points, said the project's executive engineer Joy Prakash Chowdhury.

The progress on the Alenga to Bangabandhu Bridge portion is merely 20 percent, he added, blaming the construction company, Abdul Monem Limited, for the lack of progress.

"Scarcity of construction materials, abnormal price hike and insufficient supply of bitumen are the major challenges that may keep us from completing the project on time," added Joy.

"We began working on this portion in 2022. Besides, we are facing shortage of soil and sand. However, the work will be completed within the project deadline," said Nazrul Islam, executive director of Abdul Monem Limited.

Passengers and transport workers said they suffer immensely when crossing the Alenga to Bangabandhu Bridge portion due to the narrow road.

Jamil Ahmed, 45, a local trader from Rangpur City said, "From Dhaka to Rangpur, we face traffic congestion only in Gobindaganj and Palashbari, losing at least an hour."

The project authorities planned to acquire 10 acres of land in Gobindaganj and 15 acres of land in Palashbari upazila to expand the highway.

"They [project authorities] told me that nine decimals of my land will be acquired. They even took the documents some 6-7 years ago. But they are yet to pay," said Anwara Begum, 60, a resident of Palashbari.

"My lands are laying idle since then. I am not even able to rent it out and therefore facing financial strains," she added.

Contacted, Md Waliur Rahman, the project director, said, "We have already paid Tk 530 crores to district administration for acquiring 15 acres of land in Palashbari. Now, they are responsible for completing the task."

"Also, we need Tk 730 crores to acquire 10 acres of land in Gobindaganj, but the Ministry of Finance is yet to release the fund," he added.

"We are trying to complete it by December next year. However, if not, we will surely complete it by June 2025," added the project director.

"There were 11 land acquisition cases related to the SASEC project. We have already received money for acquiring lands in Palashbari upazila and have started paying the owners. However, we are yet to receive the funds for Gobindaganj lands," said Md Zahid Hasan Siddiquee, additional deputy commissioner of Gaibandha district administration.

"We are yet to get money for acquiring lands in Gobindaganj. We will start the process upon getting the fund," he added.