THE Bangladesh Railway鈥檚 failure to complete the Khulna-Mongla railway project and start train services 14 years after the project was taken and seven months after it was inaugurated shows once again the sorry state of project implementation. As with every case of delayed implementation, the project at hand is also characterised by cost overruns. The railway authorities initiated the project under an Indian line of credit in 2010 and were supposed to complete it in 2013, but the project underwent several revisions, running cost overruns and deadline extensions. The estimated cost of the project was, keeping to the original development project proforma, Tk 1,721.39 crore, with Tk 1,202.31 crore from India and Tk 519.08 crore from Bangladesh. After three revisions, the project cost now stands at Tk 4,225.71 crore. The deadline has also been extended five times 鈥� the first time, by a year to December 2014; the second time, by four years to June 2018, the third to June 2020, the fourth to December 2022 and the fifth in 2023 till June 2025.
What is gravely concerning is that such delayed implementation has become the norm rather than an exception, with most projects, even the fast-track ones that are specifically monitored, having had cost and time overruns. The number of revised projects under the annual development programme in the 2022鈥�23 financial year was 369. The number was 326 in 2021鈥�22 and 285 in 2020鈥�21. Corruption and inefficiency are believed to be adding to delayed implementation and cost overruns and the government has failed to address both the issues. Such a situation also questions the reliability and acceptability of feasibility studies and project proposals, which cost a huge amount of money, too. Development experts consistently point out that projects are approved without adequate feasibility studies and stakeholder consultations. A study by the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division also says that Bangladesh lags in completing most projects on time and within the budget and there is a lack of transparency and accountability in project implementation. Studies have also found an absence of proper feasibility studies and technical designs, delays in land acquisition and fund management, a lack of institutional capacity to deal with many projects simultaneously, lengthy tender processes, irregularities and corruption responsible for delayed implementation of projects.
When most of the development projects are implemented, partially or fully, with loans, failure to implement projects on time and within the budget bleeds the economy. On many occasions, the government has admitted the ills of delayed implementation and cost overruns in projects but has done nothing to stop the practice. It is high time the government had a course correction and ensured efficiency, transparency and fast implementation to reap the benefits from development projects.
