Gulistan-Jatrabari most expensive flyover

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October 2013 The motorcade of the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, moves on the Mayor Mohammad Hanif Flyover af ter she opened the structure Friday af ternoon. — BSS photo

The 11km Gulistan-Jatrabari elevated motor way has become the most expensive f lyover in the country as its construction costs about Tk 200 crore per kilometre, experts said. The cost of the much-hyped f ly-over, constructed by the Orion Group, a private builder, has escalated to Tk 2,053 crore, over three times than Tk 670 crore it was estimated to cost in 2005. Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology teacher Shamsul Hoque told New Age that the cost of building the Gulistan-Jatrabari f lyover was expensive when compared to the construction costs of other city f lyovers. He said that the construction of the recently inaugurated Kuril f lyover as well as that of the Shahjalal International Airport-Mirpur f lyover stood at Tk 100 crore per kilometre. ‘Def initely the construction cost of the Gulistan-Jatrabari f lyover is almost double,’ he said. ‘The government should look into whether the construction cost of the Gulistan-Jatrabari is the most expensive in this part of the world,’ he added. The costs of similar projects in India are much less – less than half of the Jatrabari f lyover cost, he said. The Times of India reported on July 9, 2013 that the construction of the 8.14km Park Circus-Parama Island f lyover in Kolkata was going to increase to Rs 526 f rom a previous estimated cost of Rs 300 crore. Another report of the same paper stated that the proposed 7.4km f lyover f rom Batanagar to Jinjirabazar on Budge Budge Trunk Road, under the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority, would cost Rs 250 crore. Mujibur Rahman, another BUET teacher, said that the government should assess the cost very caref ully as the Gulistan-Jatrabari f lyover was constructed on ‘build, own, operate and transf er’ basis. It means that the Orion Group will be able to charge levy on vehicles using the f lyover to realise the costs f or the next 24 years. For a single trip, Tk 5 will be collected as toll f or a motorbike, Tk 10 f or an autorickshaw, Tk 35 f or a car, Tk 40 f or a jeep, Tk 50 f or a microbus, Tk 75 f or a pickup van, Tk 100 f or a minibus, Tk 150 f or a bus, Tk 100 f or a f our-wheeler truck, Tk 150 f or a sixwheeler truck and Tk 200 f or a trailer. Experts speculated that the construction group, in collusion with Dhaka South City Corporation of f icials, who monitored the implementation of the project, enhanced the project cost many f old in order to gain windf all prof its. They said that the group escalated the project cost to get higher loans f rom local banks, mostly state owned ones, in order to remain saf e if the project turned out not to be viable in f uture. City corporation engineer Ashiqur Rahman, also the project director, said that it was up to the government to assess the escalated project cost. He claimed that the f lyover was built maintaining highest saf ety measure. The f lyover aims at addressing traf f ic congestion at Jatrabari, the gateway of more than a dozen eastern districts and the exit point to Chittagong and Sylhet f rom the capital. The city corporation of f icials said that the operator would allow certain types of vehicles to travel on the f lyover f rom Saturday. They said that the work was continuing to complete three out of 11 landing ramps by mid-December.