Transport infrastructure: Altering its
skewed pattern

Tawfique Ali

Incoherent development of road infrastructure with utter negligence to railway and inland waterways over past three decades has regrettably inhibited the country's success in transport sector.

Ill-planned and name-only urban and rural road infrastructures have cost the nation enormous waste of public resources.

Overriding objective of the successive government with those projects has been showcasing political leaders in glitzy inaugural ceremonies and harvest ready public applause bothering little about a well-integrated transportation system.

The road projects may have earned the politicians a ready political gain. Foreign donor groups have shown an apathy towards development of railway and waterways apparently to cater to the public demand for door-to-door transportation with road networks.

A tripartite interest of the politicians, road transport businessmen and donors (for automobile markets) motivated the negligence to railway and waterways, said Prof. Shamsul Hoque, who is working on a number of ongoing transport projects in the capital.

Background
Bangladesh Transport Studies (BTS) done in 1973 recommended a long-term plan for investment in the transport sector with emphasis on the railway and inland waterways as sustainable modes.

The first five-year plan (1973-178) was drawn incorporating the BTS recommendations that aimed at reconstruction of the transport sector of the war-ravaged country in a balanced manner.

However, by the early 1980s, resource allocation biased consistently to the mode (modal bias) of road communication at the cost of railway and waterways despite the fact that road construction and communication system is expensive and adds heavily to environmental pollution.

Modal bias in the transport sector is evident from a comparative scenario in the consecutive five-year plans sine 1973.

In the first five-year plan (1972-1978), inland waterways received 41 percent of the total allocation in the transport sector with road 32 percent and rail 27.

Over the following four five-year plans during 1980 to 2002, resource allocation to water and rail sub-sectors went consistently down.

By the year 2005, allocation to waterways fell to 1.5 percent of transport sector with railway 23 percent while that to roads soared up to 72 percent.

Allocation to road sub-sector rose consistently high with 36 percent in the 1980s, 50 percent in the late 1980s, and 73 percent in the early 1990s.

According to transport sector specialists, foreign donors like Japan (Jica and JDCF), The World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and European Union too kept silent on the trend.

They however started to realize from beginning of the year 2000 that it was not appropriate for a balanced growth of the transport system and began to think on reviving the long-neglected railway and waterways.

Photo: Fahad Kaizer/Driknews

Successes
It is an obvious success in the transport infrastructure that people's mobility has increased many times with road transportation during past twenty years.

The country has achieved a significant success in the transport sector mostly confined to road network, according to Prof. Jamilur Reza Choudhury, a noted civil engineer and transport specialist.

National highways are by and large planned but the urban and rural networks have not got due attention, he said.

The country at present has a 21571-kilometre road network developed by Roads and Highways Department (RHD) and 250021 kilometres rural network.

Bangladesh is one of the countries having highest rural road developments.

The RHD network includes 3570 kilometre national highways, 4323 kilometres regional highways and 13678 kilometres Zilla roads.

The rural network includes 24052 kilometres paved roads with the rest earthen and brick-covered.

Three bridges on the Buriganga, Bangabandhu Multi-purpose Bridge on the river Jamuna, Lalon Shah Bridge on the Paksey, third Karnaphuli Bridge and Rupsha Bridge in Khulan are some notable vital transport infrastructures built during past two decades.

The Jamuna Bridge has worked wonders, particularly for the northeastern Bangladesh making direct communication with the capital city a dream come true.

Failures and lapses
Principal aim of road development is to link markets, towns and administrative centers to harvest economic growth.

But the successive governments have undertaken many ill-planned and contractor-oriented road projects over past twenty years without economic rationale.

The Public Expenditure Review Commission that worked during 2003 and 2004 found out major waste of public money in the name of road projects that were evidently non-viable.

The commission combed through the road projects in the ADP and found worrying number of road projects, mostly on political consideration.

In an example, it was found that allocation was so inadequate for a road project that it would take 70 years to complete the project.

Dr. Zaid Bakht, a research director of BIDS, thinks that development in road transportation has taken place mere on piecemeal basis.

The Land Transport Policy made in 2004 underscored the need for Integrated Multi-modal Transport Policy (IMTP), which was submitted to the government three years back.

It is made of three components including the Highway Master Plan, Railway Master Plan and Inland Water Transport Master Plan. Government has approved the Highway (road) Master Plan while the rest two are still awaiting approval.

Had the IMTP been accordingly followed, it would prevent modal-bias development of the transport sector, said Dr. M. Rahmatullah, an eminent transport sector specialist and a former director of UN-ESCAP. The ongoing transport projects are not being implemented in a planned manner in absence of approved master plans.

Non-implementation of long-term development plan, inconsistent projects and bureaucratic delay in approval and procurement process hinder a balanced growth of transport infrastructure in Bangladesh, according to Tatsuhiko Sunouchi, representative of Jica.

While the government often argues that it lacks in fund for road maintenance, it can spend at best 70 percent of Tk200 crore released from Japan Debt Cancellation Fund ever year for the purpose, said Suman Das Gupta, senior programme manager of Jica.

Railway
Bangladesh Railway with an existing 2884-kiloemtre long route has been reduced to a dilapidated state with weak tracks and bridges and rundown coaches, wagons and locomotives. It requires modernization, decentralized management, enhanced capacity and private investment.

Cargo movement has to depend primarily on the railway. The existing Dhaka-Chittagong rail link has to be made double-track to carry increased volume of cargo containers.

Projects were taken on railway double tracking back in 2006 for the sections like Tongi-Bhairab Bazar, Ahaura-Laksham and Laksham-Chinkiastana.

Foreign financiers promised fund for the projects but have not released it, as they conditioned the fund to rail reform that has not made any tangible progress yet.

Inland waterways
One single example may elucidate the ill-fated state Inland Water Transport (IWT) has been left to over past three and half decades.

The last time a dredger was procured for BIWTA was in 1975. After that, initiative was taken last year to procure three dredgers, delivery of which is expected in April.

Those apart, proposals have been ready for 17 more dredgers--four to be procured with part of India's one-billion-dollar credit line, three with Kuwait fund and ten with government's own fund in phases.

BIWTA has a fleet of only seven dredgers, most of which are rundown.

The navigable route of IWT is 3568 kilometer, which has been reduced from 5968 kilometres in only ten years back. Most of the major rivers of the country have lost navigability due to encroachment and long-stalled dredging programmes.

Negligence to inland waterways has been systematic resulting in non-navigability of many major navigable river channels.

The circular waterway along the rivers Buriganga, Turag, Balu and Shitalakhhya, a gift of the nature, can substantially ease up the perennial traffic congestion on the capital's surface roads if utilized in a planned manner.

But the route has been made meaningless with a dozen of low-height bridges all built by government agencies defying rules of BIWTA.

Seaports and regional connectivity
At present, Bangladesh makes use of only 60 percent and 25 percent of the total capacity of Chittagong and Mongla ports respectively, as per estimates of the port authorities.

It implies that Bangladesh can sell off the remaining 40 and 75 percent of the services of the two seaports. Chittagong port handles one million 20-foot freight containers per year, of which 70 percent are destined for Dhaka. Bangladesh railway carries only 11 percent of the cargo.

The rest is carried by trucks resulting in damage of and traffic congestion on the roads. The goods handled in this process is damaged and pilfered, as the containers are dismantled to carry by trucks, according to Rahmatullah.

Regional connectivity is trading in transport services, making optimum use of spare capacity of the seaports, Bangladesh will earn revenue charging for transit, port, road, and rail facilities, he said.

India will use the ports for her northeastern states, while Nepal and Bhutan will have an opportunity for exporting and importing goods.

Ongoing and upcoming projects
A number of big transport projects are presently either going on or coming up soon.

The Prime Minister inaugurated the ten-kilometre Jatrbari-Gulistan-Palashi Flyover in June. Belhasa Accom and Associates Limited, an associate company of Orion Group has already started the groundwork of the flyover setting completion by 2013.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has just approved the much talked- about 26-kilometre Dhaka Elevated Expressway project.

Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) is scheduled to submit the final feasibility report on the 23-kilometre Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) route no-6 to connect Uttara 3rd phase with Saidabad. The MRT will have the capacity to carry an estimated 45000 passenger per hour in each direction.

The proposed route passes through Mirpur Cantonment, Pallabi, Rokeya Sarani, Bijoy Sarani, Nazurl Islam Avenue, Shahbagh, Dhaka Universality (TSC), Chankharpul, Kaptan Bazar and Rajdhani Super Market.

It will be developed in three phases including Pallabi-Sonargaon Hotel in the first phase, Sonargaon to Saidabad in the second and Uttara to Pallabi in the third.

Uttara-Pallabi section of the MRT route will be on the ground while the rest will go elevated. This rail-based MRT will

As a tradition, government of Japan is expected to bear all the construction cost of the 1.7-billion dollar project while Bangladesh has to accomplish land acquisition, rehabilitation and utility relocation.

However, the Jica officials in the project said that they have asked for design of the Jtarabari-Palashi Flyover from the DTCB for coordination with the proposed MRT but have not yet received it.

Department of environment is doing feasibility study for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route no-3 that stretches between Uttara to Sadarghat under a programme called CASE.

The RHD is implementing a 40-kilometre Joidevpur-Tongi-Uttara BRT project as extension of BRT route no-3 with feasibility study going on.

Rajdhani Unnyan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) is implementing Kuril Interchange (a combination of several overpasses at a place) to facilitate free flow of traffic at the complex Kuril intersection.

The RHD is also implementing Mirpur-Zia Colony link road via Dhaka cantonment. Mirpur dwellers bound for Uttara, Gulshan, Banani and Rampura will take benefit of it.

A 3.5 kilometre long trumpet interchange (elevated junction) is underway at Zia colony junction to facilitate uninterrupted traffic on the airport.

Bangladesh army is assigned to build a road overpass at Banani rail crossing.

Detailed project proposal is underway for Gabtoli-New Market Integrated Road Improvement Project. Feasibility for the project has been done under supervision of a Buet professor.

Under this project, all the existing traffic signals will be removed from Gabtoli-New Market corridor to build a continuous road divider. A pair of elevated or underground loop will be built at each signal for right turning to ensure a free traffic flow along the said road.

Detailed project proposal for Juarin Road Overpass is ready to be implemented by RHD.

Shantinagar-Tejgaon flyover to be implemented by LGED with Saudi fund will replace the proposed Malibagh-Moghbazar road overpass while Jatrbari-Gulistan Flyover will replace Saidabad overpass.

The proposed Padma Bridge project is also underway with a delay in loan sanction.

What STP says
The Strategic Transport Plan (STP) provides certain short-term measures for the capital city to improve the transport scenario. The recommendations include proper car park management, retrieval of car park space, optimum use of the existing road width, removal of unnecessary traffic bottlenecks, enhancing capacity of intersections and restrictions on right turning.

It strongly suggests for a multi-modal mass transit system as a long-term solution Bust Rapid Transit (BRT) and Mass rapid Transit (MRT).

Measures required
Proportionate allocation of resources must be devoted to railway and waterways to bring them back on track as those sectors have enormous potential to make contribution to the country's economic growth.

Centralised administration and bureaucratic tangle must go engaging professional people and obtaining higher investment to revive the two long-neglected sectors.

Government must pay due attention to revival and development of railway and waterways at least in consideration of environment conservation.

Bangladesh allocates less than two percent of her GDP for development of infrastructure as a whole, while some fast-growing countries like China, Thailand and Vietnam allocate 7 percent, said Rahmatullah. Bangladesh is required to allocate 7 percent to become the world's 30th economically developed nation by the year 2030, which is a vision of the government.

The writer is Senior Staff Reporter, The Daily Star.