FOR several years, there was unbearable traffic congestion on the road from Gazipur Chourasta to Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
It used to take hours just to cross this short stretch, so the much-publicized BRT project was launched to reduce the public hassle.
After three rounds of revisions, the project, initially costing 2,040 crore taka, ended up at 4,268 crore taka.
Now, 14 years later, with 97 percent of the project completed, the government has decided to cancel it.
Despite massive spending, the public hasn’t benefited from the project, yet it has been canceled at the final stage.
Naturally, the question arises, who is responsible for this waste of thousands of crores of taka?
According to a newspaper report, it was learned that the decision to cancel the project was made at a cabinet meeting on Sunday presided over by the Prime Minister.
The next day, a letter from the Road Transport and Highways Division informed about the decision.
It was mentioned that the BRT station and lane divider will be removed, and the road will be upgraded to six lanes on both sides with three lanes each.
There is also a proposal to expand the two two-lane flyovers to four lanes.
Meanwhile, BUET experts mentioned that flaws in planning and design, lack of coordination, and accountability issues have contributed to the project’s failure.
It has also been mentioned that the BRT operator and Dhaka Bus Rapid Transit Company will be dissolved and its operations will be brought under the Road Transport and Highways Department (RHD).
After 97 percent of the work was completed, the decision to cancel the project has raised questions among various organizations.
It is known that the initial cost of the project was estimated at around 2,040 crore taka.
It was said that once the project started, about 25,000 passengers could travel daily.
The buses were expected not to get stuck in traffic, signals, or any other obstacles. But even after all this time that benefit hasn’t been realized.
However, according to the Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP), canceling the project when only a small part of the work remains could cost over 10 billion taka for infrastructure removal and compensating contractors.
The main goal of any development activity in a country should be to improve the people’s quality of life.
And it’s the government’s responsibility to ensure that not a single penny of the people’s money is wasted.
We believe that the issue of financial waste in the BRT project needs to be properly investigated. At the same time, those responsible must face the law.