The authorities began the toll collection on the Dhaka Elevated Expressway on Sunday afternoon, 23 days after they had suspended the collection.
The expressway鈥檚 two entry ramps in Banani and Mohakhali areas and one exit ramp in Karwan Bazar area, however, will remain closed now.
First Dhaka Elevated Expressway Company Limited manager for operations and maintenance Captain Hasib Hasan Khan said that the toll collection on the expressway started from 3:00pm on Sunday.
Earlier on July 18 and 19, some people vandalised and torched the expressway鈥檚 Banani toll booth and Mohakhali toll booth respectively during the recent student protests.
Since July 19, vehicular movement on the expressway had been halted which resumed on August 5, said Capitan Hasib.
He said that on August 5 and 6, motorcycles, CNG-run auto-rickshaws and rickshaws also ran and people walked on the expressway while vehicles were banned on the infrastructure.
No toll was collected then, he mentioned.
鈥楩rom August 7 the students started to obstruct motorcycles, CNG-run auto-rickshaws and rickshaws to run on the expressway,鈥� he said, adding that the students and the Bangladesh Army also assured them of guarding the expressway.
The Bangladesh Bridge Authority instructed them to collect the toll from Sunday, the manager continued.
As toll booths at Banani and Mohakhali were burnt and a pillar in Karwan Bazar area had been damaged they kept the ramps closed at these places until repairing, Captain Hasib mentioned.
He said that an estimated Tk 50 crore damages had been done to the expressway.
The 46.73-kilometre expressway project connects Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport with the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway at Kutubkhali near Jatrabari.
The project was undertaken in 2011 to reduce traffic congestion in the capital and save time and money.
It was revised in 2013 due to alignment changes, and construction began in 2015 at an estimated cost of Tk 8,940 crore.
The FDEE, a joint venture of the Italian-Thai and two Chinese companies - China Shandong International Economic and Technical Co-operation Group (CSI) and Sinohydro Corporation Limited鈥� are implementing the project under the supervision of BBA.
The three companies signed loan agreements with the China Exim Bank and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in March 2019.
Former prime minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Airport-Farmgate section of the expressway on September 2, 2023.
The exit ramp of the expressway鈥檚 Karwan Bazar section, in front of the BFDC, was opened to traffic on March 20 this year.
Till mid-May, the project鈥檚 overall progress was 75 per cent.
The works of the expressway project have come to a halt following altercations between the three foreign investment and shareholding companies implementing the project over ownership of shares.
