Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said in Parliament that
hopefully, the construction work for the 38-km Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated
Expressway will start in due time stretching from Shahjalal
International Airport to Chandra of Gazipur along the Ashulia road.
She expressed the hope while answering a tabled question of BNP
lawmaker Nazim Uddin Ahmed (Laxmipur-1) during the PM’s
question-answer session. Hasina said the pre-feasibility study for
the Tk 16,250 crore project on Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) basis
has already been completed while seven firms have so far submitted
their bids following invitation of Expression of Interest (EoI).
Besides, she said the Chinese government firm CITIC Construction Co
Ltd has already made an offer to construct the expressway on
Government to Government basis. The PM also informed the House that
the Dhaka Elevated Expressway from Shahjalal International Airport to
Kutubkhali of Dhaka-Chittagong Highway will start soon aiming to
further ease traffic congestion in the city. The Cabinet Committee
on Economic Affairs gave the final nod to revised concession agreement
of the firm First Dhaka Elevated Expressway (FDEE) Co Ltd. as per the
revised alignment following the recommendations of the technical
expert committee on October 23, 2013. Hasina informed that the
estimated cost of the Dhaka Elevated Expressway Project is Tk 8,940.18
crore with the overall length of the expressway being 46.73
kilometers. Of this, the length of the main part is 19.73 kilometer
while the length of 31 ramps is 27 kilometers. The route of the
Dhaka Elevated Expressway is Shahjalal International
Airport-Kuril-Banani-Mohakhali-Tejgaon-Moghbazar-Kamalapur-Sayedabad-Jatrabari-Kutubkhali.
The PM also told the House that technical assistance has been sought
from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to conduct the
feasibility study to construct the Western Dhaka Elevated Expressway
linking with Dhaka Elevated Expressway and Dhaka Ashulia Elevated
Expressway. – UNB
