Tuhin Shubhra Adhikary

The government has officially abandoned its decade-long plan to build an expressway on the Dhaka-Chattogram corridor, a crucial cog for the Bangladesh economy, under public-private partnership -- after shelling out Tk 100 crore on a feasibility study and getting a detailed design.

The government has finally formed a trustee board to settle compensation claims over road accidents, but it will be fully functional only after the rules of Road Transport Act-2018 are formulated. 

Apparently giving in to pressure from transport associations, the government once again waived the fines for failing to update documents of vehicles on time.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has directed the authorities concerned to take punitive action against those responsible for unusual delays and irregularities in a project for building a medical college hospital in Kushtia.

Jewel Mia, a temporary employee of Motel Sylhet, has been working for the Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation for the last four years.

A project to acquire land and relocate utility service lines for expanding the Dhaka-Sylhet-Tamabil highway is likely to be delayed by two and a half years and cost double, according to the latest revision proposal of the project.

The under-construction rail line between Chattogram and Cox’s Bazar would be opened by December next year, said Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan yesterday. Project documents, however, tell a different story.

A feud between two major factions of road transport owners and workers has led to calling of two separate strikes of goods-laden vehicles in the span of a week.

When experts are advocating for a planned public transport system to ease traffic congestion and ensure road safety, the number of buses and minibuses are actually declining in the city.

Although the Road Transport Act was passed three years ago, its rules have not been formulated yet, preventing the authorities from executing some vital sections of the law which aims to curb crashes and bring discipline to the road transport sector.

Around 45 percent pot bearings, a vital element for load transmission, of Bangabandhu Bridge have been found problematic and require replacement.

The long-awaited opening of the bridge over the Payra river next month will bring relief to people of the country’s southern regions, but the project will also stand as an example of poor implementation of a construction scheme. 

A long-awaited railway project for setting up a direct rail line between Bogura and Sirajganj, ultimately shortening Dhaka-Bogura travel distance by 112 kilometres and time by three hours, has finally seen some progress.

The Chinese contractor that has been building the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel under the Karnaphuli river in Chattogram is also set to be responsible for its maintenance and toll collection.

The country witnessed a sharp rise in road accidents and deaths this year due to a huge numbers of small vehicles plying the highways and a lack of monitoring by the authorities concerned.

The physical work of another elevated expressway, which will facilitate vehicles’ quick entry and exit to and from the capital, is likely to start next month as the uncertainty over Chinese funding is now over.

The Railways Ministry has sent back four development project proposals (DPP) prepared without any feasibility study.

The Planning Commission has raised question about a Roads and Highways Department (RHD) project requesting more money when the project deadline had already been extended trice and its cost increased. 

Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan has directed the authorities concerned to investigate several recent railway accidents in which trucks hit trains at level crossings, most of which are unauthorised.

A government initiative to amend the Road Transport Act-2018 has picked up pace after a brief hiatus, even before the authorities started fully implementing the law.