Aricha-Tangail Highway Work Without Environmental Clearance, and No Exit Plan in the Project

Work on the Aricha (Barangail)-Ghior-Daulatpur-Nagarpur-Tangail highway development project has proceeded without an environmental impact assessment (EIA), an environmental management plan (EMP) or a traffic management plan (TMP), according to project documents. The documents say the Roads and Highways Department did not carry out a feasibility study, so no EIA, EMP or TMP report was included in the project document.

The total cost of the project has been set at Tk 1,635 crore 10 lakh. Spending was planned over five fiscal years from 2021-2022 to 2025-2026. By May 2026, a total of Tk 1,173 crore 52 lakh had been spent on the project, about 71.77 percent of the approved budget.

In the first fiscal year, an estimate of Tk 5 crore 41 lakh was made, but no money was spent because of delay in project approval and failure to appoint a contractor, the documents say. In 2022-2023, Tk 478 crore 55 lakh was spent against an estimate of Tk 565 crore 29 lakh, Tk 250 crore was spent in 2023-2024, and Tk 383 crore 86 lakh was spent in 2024-2025.

About 98 percent of the project money has been allocated to infrastructure construction and the capital sector. That includes land acquisition, road embankments, new roads, widening existing roads, bridges, underpasses, culverts, drains and protective works. The documents list Tk 121 crore 34 lakh for 15 PC girder bridges, Tk 47 crore 42 lakh for seven underpasses, and Tk 70 crore 10 lakh for drainage and protective works.

The original allocation for land acquisition was Tk 69 crore 30 lakh. By May 2026, spending was shown as Tk 71 crore 82 lakh even though acquisition had not been fully completed, Tk 2 crore 52 lakh more than the estimate. In the Manikganj and Tangail sections, land has not been handed over because Section 7 notices and valuation have not been completed, and affected people have not received compensation, the report says.

There are large differences in progress across the project's 10 work packages (WP-01 to WP-10). Overall physical progress was 72 percent by May 2026, but WP-06 had progressed only 32 percent, WP-04 and WP-07 were at 49 percent each, while WP-09 was 86 percent complete and WP-10 was 89 percent complete.

On the 58.50-kilometre highway, no designated bus bay or modern passenger shelter has been provided for public transport to stop and for passengers to board and alight safely. The deck slabs of the built PC girder bridges were also cast without the standard 2 percent cross slope for drainage, the documents say.

No specific exit plan for road operation after completion, an annual repair budget, and handover of land and designs was included in the project proposal (DPP).

Professor Dr Hasib Mohammad Ahsan of the civil engineering department of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and director of the Accident Research Institute said building infrastructure alone is not enough for a highway; design, drainage, traffic safety and construction-time traffic management must also be ensured. He also said large differences in progress on different parts of the same road can disrupt traffic and create accident risk.

In an IMED survey, 46.1 percent of residents said water is sprinkled only occasionally to control dust during construction, and 7.3 percent said water is never sprinkled. The survey also found that 10 percent of pedestrians face accident risk every day because construction materials and drain waste are left in an unplanned way.

Director (Law) of the Department of Environment Md Khaled Hasan said EIAs are carried out for mega projects under government instructions and that ensures environmental protection. He also said action would be taken if a complaint is received about any project. Member of parliament for Manikganj-1 S A Jinnah Kabir said quality, transparency and accountability must be ensured in construction work and allegations of irregularities should be investigated.