Ensuring safety at BRT Line-3: Planning Commission questions implementing agency’s role

The implementing authority of the BRT Line-3 has so far spent Tk 5.57 crore for ensuring safety at the project site, but it has failed to do so. The deaths of five people last month are a testament to the failure.

If this is the case, what is the rationale for such allocation and spending? Why safety could not be ensured even after the money was spent for this purpose?

These are the two vital questions the Planning Commission raised after the project authorities sought revision of the long-delayed project for the third time.

Though the commission questioned the project authorities' role, a probe body, formed by road transport and bridges ministry, said it didn't find any fault of the authorities for the incident that left five people dead on August 15.

The committee, led by Neelima Akhter, additional secretary of the Road Transport and Highway Division that supervises the project, held the project's Chinese contractor responsible for the incident.

In its final report submitted to the road secretary on Thursday, it said the project authorities should have strengthened round-the-clock monitoring to ensure safety at the site.

The authorities should have also seen whether the consultants were discharging duties properly, it mentioned.

ABM Amin Ullah Nuri, secretary of the division, unveiled the findings of the seven-member probe committee at a press conference at the Secretariat yesterday.

A government agency doesn't usually make public such probe reports.

The secretary said the committee was tasked with only finding those responsible for the incident. Since it was not entitled to recommend any punitive action, the Roads and Highways Department (RHD), the implementing authority of the project, will take action in line with the probe body's findings.

Five people, including two children, were crushed to death on August 15 when a crane toppled over, making a box girder segment fall on their car on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway in capital's Uttara area.

SAFETY NOT ENSURED

The project was taken up in November 2012 to build a 20.50km dedicated road for busesfrom Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to Gazipur.

It was supposed to be completed at a cost of Tk 2,037.85 crore by December 2016. But the deadline was extended several times, and the cost finally stood at Tk 4,268.38 crore.

According to the latest deadline, the project is supposed to be completed by December this year.

The project authorities, however, recently sought a third revision of the project to extend the deadline till December 2023 and also made some changes in the internal allocation for the project without raising the total cost.

In response to the proposal, the Planning Commission sent a letter along with some observations to the project authorities. It will hold a meeting September 8 to discuss the issue.

In its observation, the commission said, "A proposal has been placed to extend the deadline till December 2023, meaning the four-year project will take 11 years."

It asked the authorities concerned to give reasons behind the delay.

According to the commission's document, Tk 5.57 crore has been allocated for "maintenance and protection of traffic" under the component, "general and site facilities".

But a tragic incident took place recently as proper safety measures were not in place at the project site, it read.

"In this situation, the [September 8] meeting should discuss the allocation and the spending. Besides, it has to be clarified at the meeting why safety could not be ensured even after the money was spent for this purpose," it added.

Contacted, Project Director ASM Elias Shah said they were preparing replies to the questions asked by the Planning Commission and will place those at the meeting.

He, however, didn't give details.

CLEAN CHIT

A day after the girder incident, the probe committee submitted its preliminary report accusing the Chinese contractor -- China Gezhouba Group Co Ltd -- its safety team and the crane operator of negligence.

Referring to the final report, the road secretary yesterday said the committee found 12 reasons behind the incident -- the first one is that the contractor carried out project work on the National Mourning Day, a public holiday, without any approval.

Amin Ullah further said this was the first time a segment of a girder was being transported in the daytime but the reason behind it is not clear.

He said the crane had no licence; it also had no digital monitor and was being operated by a helper of the operator.The contractor had no traffic management plan or emergency management plan, he added.

The people working under the contractor at that particular time didn't have any approval. Besides, the assigned safety engineer didn't have the capacity to do the work, he added.

The contractor is mainly responsible for the incident that took place due to a breach in safety mechanisms, he said adding that "They [the contractor] might have done this to save money."

He further said the consulting firm -- Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management (EPCM) -- sent to the contractor 34 letters regarding safety lapses since January 11 this year.

The consulting firm should have visited the project site regularly and monitored the work properly as dispatch of letters is not enough for ensuring safety compliance, he said.

In reply to a query, he said the project authorities are not responsible for the particular incident but they have to beef up round-the-clock monitoring to ensure safety at the project site.

The secretary said the committee made 14 recommendations to stop recurrence of the such incidents. One of those is that the Chinese embassy in Dhaka be informed that the contractor time and again violated the safety rules.

It also recommended giving compensation to the families of the victims and going ahead with the project only after ensuring safety.