Bangladesh’s Interim government is battling with a deepening crisis over the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, as proposals to extend its deadline and increase costs have been rejected. With no workable alternative available, the government is struggling to resolve the long-standing problems surrounding the project.
Officials say that even dismantling the BRT would not provide a profitable or sustainable solution. Planning Advisor Dr. Wahiduddin Mahmud has stated that dismantling alone would cost more than Tk 2,000 crore, while failing to address the underlying transport challenges. Around Tk 5,000 crore has already been spent, yet the 20-kilometer Gazipur–Dhaka Airport corridor remains unsafe and incomplete.
Recently, a proposal to raise the project cost by another Tk 2,000 crore was rejected at an ECNEC meeting. BUET professor and project consultant Dr. Shayer Ghafur described the initiative as fundamentally flawed, citing wrong planning, wrong design, and wrong decision-making. He said the project has effectively failed, and finding an acceptable solution at this stage is extremely difficult.
Sources indicate that, with national elections approaching, the interim government is unwilling to take a decisive step and is instead leaving the matter for the next elected government. Although discussions were held to complete only urgent works within the approved budget of Tk 4,286 crore, no final approval was granted.
Investigations by multiple committees, including those under the Roads and Highways Department, have identified serious design and implementation flaws but failed to propose viable remedies. A newly formed committee led by BUET professor Dr. Md. Shamsul Hoque is reviewing the situation, though its report is still pending.
Approved in the year 2012 and scheduled for completion in 2016, the BRT project began field-level work only in 2017 and has faced repeated delays, cost escalations, and accidents. On-site observations show abandoned and deteriorating infrastructure, stolen materials, incomplete stations, and missing pedestrian bridges.
With foot overbridges removed and large road sections left unused, traffic congestion and fatal accidents have increased sharply. Rusting railings, uninstalled escalators, and unfinished stations along the corridor underscore what many experts now call one of the country’s most problematic infrastructure projects.
As matters stand, the interim government believes the fate of the BRT project must be decided by the next administration.
Bd-pratidin English/ Jisan
