Extra land is needed for the Padma bridge project; the flow of the river has changed which has added the demand. Additional land is also needed to dump the sand and earth accumulated from dredging.
Basically, the project now requires an extra 1,162.67 hectares of land. On Thursday, 21 June, the project to acquire additional land has been approved with an allotment of Tk. 1400 crore.
The land to be acquired has settlements and, therefore, compensation has to be paid to the residents. Previously, the construction cost of this massive infrastructure project stood at Tk. 30 thousand 796 crore 39 lakh.
Head of the Padma Bridge Advisory team, Dr. Jamilur Rahman Chowdhury, told the Bangla Tribune: “initially, a large area under this project was under water which has now become visible. Settlements have developed, so, to take control over these lands, money is needed.”
On the other hand, the earth and sand dredged from the river cannot be dumped back into the river since this can emerge as char land later, he added.
“That is why the earth and sand had to be deposited in a right place to avert future expenses.”
It’s known from the roads and bridges ministry, in the second amended project, Tk 1,298 crore 73 lakh has been earmarked to acquire 1530.54 hectares of land.
On top of that, the bridges department has sent a proposal to the ministry for acquiring another 1162.67 acres of land with an envisaged extra expenditure of Tk 1400 crore.
That project was approved by the ECNEC.
The river changed direction in several areas resulting in siltation; later, on the emerging land, communities grew and cultivation began. Consequently, dredged sand and earth could not be dumped on these areas which had become localities.
Entrusted to identify spots to dump sand and earth, local organization, CEGIS, gave a report marking 21 spots.
Meanwhile, the proposal to acquire excess land was placed before the planning minister. Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Department (IMED) has been asked to assess the situation through field visit, find out all aspects, finished or unfinished, of the acquisition process, and submit a report.
Planning Minister, A.H.M. Mustafa Kamal, told Bangla Tribune: “this expenditure is based on need; not a single penny is being misspent in the project.”
Since this is a mega project, expenses can rise, though we have to ensure that the excess cost is relevant, he added.