The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved in principle the implementation of the “Dhaka East-West Elevated Expressway” project on the basis of Public Private Partnership (PPP) to reduce traffic congestion in the capital Dhaka and surrounding areas.
The approval came at the CCEA meeting of the committee held virtually on Wednesday, with Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in the chair.
It is expected that this expressway will connect the country with the Asian Highway. The government has embarked on a rapid pace of infrastructure development for the sake of easing communications across the country.
In Parliament on 12 September 2018, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced plans to build an elevated expressway to ease traffic congestion and ensure safe roads in the capital.
At that time, the Prime Minister announced five projects to make the roads safer, one of which is the Dhaka East-West Elevated Expressway.
The expressway will be from Baliapur in Savar on the Dhaka-Aricha Highway via Nimtali-Keraniganj-Fatulla-Bandar to Langalband in Narayanganj on the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway.
The 39.24 km long expressway is estimated to cost around Tk 16,389 crore.
On when the work of Dhaka East-West Elevated Expressway will start, Md Shamsul Arefin, additional secretary to cabinet division, said policy approval has been given. Now it will be given in tender, he added.
Asked about the reasons for the tender, he said, “Many companies have shown interest. That is why there will be competition between them.”
Asked how many companies and from which countries the proposals have come, he said there are many companies. However, we did not get the list of countries from which proposals came, he mentioned.
It is learned that Bangladesh Bridge Authority conducted a feasibility study for construction of “Dhaka East-West Elevated Expressway” in 2017 to reduce traffic congestion in Dhaka city. The proposed expressway is compatible with the Outer Ring Road mentioned in the Revised Strategic Transport Plan (RSTP).
If it is constructed, vehicles from the south-western part of the country will be able to move directly to the north-western part of the country and east including Chattogram-Sylhet without entering Dhaka city through Padma bridge.
As a result, traffic congestion in Dhaka and its surrounding areas will be greatly reduced.
It is learned that 316 acres of land will be required for the implementation of the project. The price, installation and other compensation of this land will be provided by the public sector. In addition, the cost of relocating existing services in the project area will be borne by the government.
On the other hand, the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) on Wednesday approved a total of 16 proposals involving Tk 20,104 crore.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal also chaired the CCGP meeting.
