Photo: Bonik Barta The Awami League government initiated a project to
construct a new railway line from Dohazari to Cox's Bazar and from Ramu to the
Ghundhum area bordering Myanmar. The project was approved in 2010. The cost of
this fast-tracked project is set at BDT 180.34 billion. The railway
construction work from Dohazari to Cox's Bazar has already been completed.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Railway has decided not to proceed with the Ramu-Cox's Bazar
project segment for now.
In a meeting held on Wednesday, the Project Evaluation
Committee (PEC) proposed a second amendment to the Development Project Proposal
(DPP) by excluding the Ramu-Ghundhum segment. The revised construction cost is
proposed to be set at BDT 113.63 billion. This would reduce the project's
overall cost by BDT 66.7 billion if approved. At the same time, a proposal has
been made to extend the deadline for the Cox's Bazar rail project by another
year. If this proposal is approved, the project will be completed by June 30,
2025.
With a plan for implementation in two phases, the
Dohazari-Cox's Bazar railway construction project was approved by the Executive
Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) in 2010. The first phase
involved the construction of a 100.83-kilometer railway from Dohazari to Cox's
Bazar. The construction work for this railway has already been completed. Train
services on the Dhaka-Cox's Bazar route began on December 1, 2023. The main
objective of constructing this railway was to connect the tourist city of Cox's
Bazar to the railway network. Railway officials have stated that this
initiative has established a safe, comfortable, affordable, and environmentally
friendly means of transportation for tourists and locals, facilitating the easy
and cost-effective transport of fish, salt, rubber raw materials, and forest
and agricultural products.
The second phase involved the construction of a railway
from Ramu Station to Ghundhum, which borders Myanmar. This plan included the
construction of two stations in Ukhiya, Cox's Bazar, and Ghundhum in Bandarban,
along with 28.72 kilometers of railway. The goal was to connect to the
Trans-Asian Railway Route-1. This route is intended to enter Bangladesh through
the Gede-Darsana border in India, passing through Ishwardi, the Bangabandhu
Bridge, Joydebpur, Tongi, Akhaura, Chattogramg, Dohazari, and Ramu, ultimately
reaching the Ghundhum border with Myanmar. To fully realize this route, the
governments of both countries planned to construct nearly 29 kilometers of new
railway in Bangladesh and additional necessary tracks within Myanmar. However,
the current political situation in Myanmar has cast uncertainty over this
route.
Railway officials say that due to the decreasing likelihood
of the route becoming operational shortly, the Ramu-Ghundhum segment is being
excluded from the Cox's Bazar rail project. This has also been mentioned in the
project’s Development Project Proposal (DPP) amendment. According to the
current DPP, the implementation area of the project includes Chandanaish,
Satkania, and Lohagara in Chattogramg, as well as Chakaria Sadar, Ramu, Ukhiya
in Cox's Bazar, and Ghundhum in Bandarban. With the Second Amendment, the
Ukhiya and Ghundhum areas of Cox's Bazar have been excluded.
The amendment proposal states that aside from suspending
the Ramu-Ghundhum segment, costs have decreased due to modifications to six
other project components. These components include land acquisition and
rehabilitation, main railway construction, newly imposed CD VAT, consulting
services, project management units, and price adjustments. Costs have increased
for some of these components while decreasing for others.
The current cost of the project is BDT 180.34 billion, of
which BDT 131.15 billion is financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and
the remaining BDT 49.19 billion comes from the Government of Bangladesh. In the
second amendment to the DPP, the ADB loan is proposed to be set at BDT 86.51
billion, and the government’s share at BDT 27.12 billion.
When asked about the cost reduction, Mohammad Suboktagin,
the project director of the Dohazari-Cox's Bazar rail project, told Bonik
Barta, “The exclusion of the Ghundhum segment has impacted the construction
costs. The proposal for the DPP amendment has been made in accordance with all
the rules of the FIDIC contract.”
The construction project for the railway from Dohazari to
Cox's Bazar and from Ramu to Ghundhum was approved by the ECNEC in July 2010.
Initially, the project's implementation deadline was set for December 2013.
After three extensions, the project was scheduled to be completed by June this
year. The second amendment to the DPP proposes to extend this deadline until
June of next year. However, railway officials state that the project's main
work has been completed. A one-year "Defect Liability Period" has
been proposed following the construction.
