SHARIATPUR, June 23: The Shariatpur-Chandpur regional highway project remains incomplete even after six years owing to alleged irregularities and corruption involving the Land Acquisition (LA) branch of the district administration and other officials.
As a result, passengers and vehicle drivers using the road are suffering immensely.
The project has been extended three times but still lies unfinished. After six years, construction has progressed only six kilometres out of 35. Despite the extension, the overall work has advanced merely 15 per cent due to complications in land acquisition.
The previous government allocated Tk 430 crore to acquire 95.85 hectares of land for the road. However, according to the district administration office, the entire sum has been spent on acquiring only 49 hectares. Although the allocated money is exhausted, just 51 per cent of the required land has been acquired. The Roads and Highways Department (RHD) is now preparing to propose an additional Tk 415 crore to the authorities concerned as funds have run out.
According to sources at the District RHD, the regional road was opened in 2001 to facilitate movement of goods and passenger vehicles from 21 districts of the south-western region to Chittagong. The previous government initiated widening of the road as it was narrow and unsuitable for traffic.
In the 2019-20 fiscal year, a project was approved at Tk 860 crore to reconstruct the 35-kilometre road from Monohar Bazar at Angaria under Sadar in the Shariatpur town to Ibrahimpur in Bhedarganj Upazila. Initially, Tk 430 crore was set aside for land acquisition for the four-lane road, and the remaining Tk 430 crore for constructing a 34-foot-wide two-lane road. The project was scheduled for completion by December 2021, later extended to December 2023, and then further extended to December 2025. Yet after building only six kilometres, the contractor could not proceed due to uncertainty over acquired land.
Some 46.95 hectares of land remain un-acquired. The RHD authority has now written to the ministry seeking a fourth extension. After receiving the letter, the LA branch issued notices to landowners for acquiring 95.85 hectares as per design. A video survey was conducted to assess land, structures and trees. But before and after the recording, certain local groups allegedly erected various structures on vacant land to claim illegal compensation.
It has been alleged that officers and employees of the LA branch colluded with these groups to arrange compensation for unauthorised structures. Payments were made for structures not appearing in the video or not included in the road design. Additionally, inflated bills were submitted by showing small trees as large and medium ones. Though compensation was disbursed, those structures are no longer visible on the acquired land.
In this regard, Sheikh Nabil Hossain, Executive Engineer of Shariatpur District RHD, said the land acquisition cost was underestimated in the Development Project Proposal. As a result, funds were exhausted before acquisition was completed. Due to the land not being acquired, work on the 29-kilometre stretch could not proceed even after three rounds of tenders. The third phase has already expired, and a proposal for extension is now before the ministry. If approved, a proposal will be made to increase expenditure by Tk 415 crore, of which Tk 300 crore will go towards land acquisition and Tk 115 crore towards road construction.
Regarding allegations against the LA branch, Shariatpur Deputy Commissioner Tahsina Begum said, "After I came, I transferred many people from the LA branch. I have revamped the branch."
When asked about irregularities and violations of law in providing compensation, she declined to comment, stating she was not working in Shariatpur at that time.
