Tk 13.75 crore paid by 'hand receipts' on Aricha-Tangail road project, crores in salvage value released without deduction

Construction of the Aricha (Barangaill)-Ghior-Daulatpur-Nagpur-Tangail regional highway (R-506) began in 2022 as an alternative route directly connecting 13 south-western districts with Dhaka, the Mymensingh division and the north. About 58.50 kilometres long and 10.30 metres wide, and suitable for four lanes, the highway was taken up as a strategic bypass to avoid congestion on the Dhaka-Aricha and Dhaka-Tangail national highways.

The Roads and Highways Department took up the Tk 1,635 crore 10 lakh project to expand transport of agricultural produce and trade in six upazilas — Shibalaya, Ghior and Daulatpur in Manikganj, and Nagarpur, Delduar and Tangail Sadar in Tangail. An investigation has now raised allegations of various irregularities with public money in this project.

According to the documents, under the Public Procurement Rules (PPR), no bill can be passed without field measurement of the work and a work-completion certificate. But in this project, Tk 13,75,65,458 was paid to six contractors through manual 'hand receipts' without any measurement or certificate.

Of that, contractor National Development Engineers (NDE) was paid Tk 10,56,02,200 alone on 22 June 2023 in a single hand receipt, voucher No. 248. Although preventing the return of budget money was shown as the excuse for passing the bill, IMED and the audit team have identified it as a grave financial offence.

Extra MS bar, or rod, beyond the approved design was included in the estimate for the rigid pavement work and a contract was made with the contractor. According to IMED's inspection, Tk 18,95,888 was overpaid to the contractor by showing extra rod in the estimate without verifying the work in the field.

In temporary maintenance to keep the road open during construction, Tk 4,39,512 was overpaid by exceeding the specified brick calculation, with no measurement book. A further Tk 8,62,441 was overpaid by showing extra thickness outside specification in the estimate for the road's DBS base course.

If a contractor uses salvage material — stone, brick chips and bituminous material from digging up the old road — in its own work, its value must be deducted from the bill. But in the Tangail part, Tk 44,76,440 in set salvage value was released without being deducted from contractor Hasan Techno Builders Limited's IPC-2 bill. Similarly, Tk 29,85,822 in salvage value was paid without being deducted in time from the running bills of NDE and DNCO Limited.

Despite a contractual obligation, contractor DNCO Limited took no safety insurance for the project work. Officials concealed this and continued giving regular bills. After an audit objection, Tk 9,30,757 was later deducted.

Ten percent of the auction value of trees cut and government structures demolished on the highway land after land acquisition — that is, Tk 4,33,97,877 — was not deposited in the government treasury. Tk 7,09,927 in VAT and income tax due to the government on the value of salvage material was not deducted from the contractors' running bills, packages WP-3 and WP-4. Despite the roads division having no legal jurisdiction over land acquisition case money, a further Tk 5,64,46,379 was released from the government treasury in the name of an extra 2 percent incidental cost.

NDE managing director Raihan Mostafiz said there is no system for taking bills manually from the roads division. As an institution, bills were taken following government rules. If any deviation occurred, the officials concerned could say. DNCO Limited managing director Engineer SM Khorshed Alam said there had been talks about an insurance policy issue, but no one from the roads division had informed them of any complaint. Hasan Techno Builders' Tangail project manager Masud Sarkar said the roads division deducts the set salvage rate in the first bill itself, so there is no scope for such irregularity. The phone of Mozahar Enterprise managing director Kazi Mozaharul Haque was switched off, so his comment could not be obtained.

Manikganj roads division executive engineer Md Shahriar Alam, who has been transferred to Tangail, said bills were paid following due process and there is no scope for irregularity. Told that IMED had raised an objection, he said a reply would be given. On implementation of the project without an environmental survey, he said the Planning Commission gave approval after verifying it at the time of approval. Executive engineer Dr Cynthia Azmiri Khan, who moved from Tangail to the Dhaka roads division, said no irregularity occurred while she was there, that those who evaluated from IMED are not experts, and that they have regular audits.

At the start of the project, Dhaka Zone additional chief engineer Md Sabuj Uddin Khan served as project director from 1 January 2022 to 19 September 2024. He said he was project director on paper only, and the whole matter of bill payment was done by the Manikganj and Tangail roads divisions. Syed Aslam Ali then served from 19 September 2024 to 26 January 2025. AKM Azad Rahman has been project director since then. He did not answer phone calls, and did not reply to a text message.

Mohammad Ruhul Amin Dulal, MP for Pirojpur-3 and a member of the parliamentary standing committee on the road transport and bridges ministry, said he was not aware of these allegations. He will raise the matter at the next standing committee meeting. If there is any inconsistency, proper action will be taken.

Siddiqur Rahman, deputy director of IMED's Monitoring and Evaluation Sector-2, said the in-depth monitoring report on this project has been submitted. A letter has been sent to the roads and highways division about various inconsistencies in the project, and no reply has yet been received.

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) executive director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said: 'Allegations such as paying bills outside the rules in a government development project, releasing money without proper measurement and verification of work, and not realising the value of government assets are extremely worrying. These allegations must be investigated impartially and fully, and those involved in irregularities brought to account.' Roads and Highways Department chief engineer Md Moniruzzaman asked for all questions in writing; after all the questions were sent in writing and he was contacted several times, he gave no reply.