Work of Dhaka Elevated Expressway starts Sunday

Staff Correspondent: Construction work of the Dhaka Elevated Expressway spreads over from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to Kutubkhali on Dhaka-Chittagong highway will be started from Sunday.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader will inaugurate the construction work of the expressway at capital`s Kawla at 11:00am tomorrow (Sunday).   

The 26 kilometre-long route of the expressway starts at Shahjalal International Airport, spreads over to Kuril-Banani-Mohakhali-Tejgaon-Moghbazar-Kamalapur-Syedabad-Jatrabari and ends at Kutubkhali on Dhaka-Chittagong Highway.

In January 2011, the government signed an agreement with Bangkok-based Ital-Thai to build the four-lane expressway at a cost of Tk 8,700 crore under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) scheme.  But the cost increased to Tk 12,200 crore.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated construction of the expressway on April 30, 2011 with a hope that it will be completed in three and a half years.

The elevated expressway project has already missed three deadlines in starting construction. In December of last year, the construction company Ital-Thai opposed to start work unless they had final confirmation about land acquisition. Earlier, the construction work was delayed for fund crisis.

risingbd/Aug 15, 2015/Shafique/Aminul