32km Cox’s Bazar- Teknaf Marine Drive to widen to boost tourism, agri

[Bilal9]

Apparently the road connecting BALUKHALI (Teknaf) to GHUMDHUM (Myanmar border) is a four lane road. This road is far wider (probably 20 meters or more). I wonder why they are only widening the Cox's-Bazar to Teknaf section to 7.3m, when it needs to be four lanes wide, like this one.

BANGLADESH-MYANMAR MOITRY (FRIENDSHIP) ROAD FROM BALUKHALI TO GHUMDHUM

 

[bluesky]

Yes there is a little corruption going on here but it is not a simple case to compare with Pakistan here.

BD tends to be more densely populated and is a more riverine country and so the cost of infrastructure is higher as you need to build more bridges for a similar length of road.

Better to look at the cost per capita of usage and that will come out quite similar.

Cox Bazaar is not a shallow and riverine area. Cox's Bazaar to Teknaf road is in the hilly area. I have visited Teknaf by bus.

 

[Bilal9]

In parts of Marine drive, they have to put in anti-erosion structures along the beach frontage. Also, tetrapods. These would increase the cost some I guess.

View of one section...

Tetrapods ready to be placed on the beach.

Sightseeing open top bus on the CXB-Teknaf road.

There is also a port terminal planned on the Teknaf River, for vessels that ply between Teknaf and St, Martin Island. I hope it gets implemented. Would give a surefire boost to tourism in that area.

 

[UKBengali]

Cox Bazaar is not a shallow and riverine area. Cox's Bazaar to Teknaf road is in the hilly area. I have visited Teknaf by bus.

No one is denying that graft does not exist in BD but to suggest that BD construction projects are far more corrupt than the region does not hold up.

Unfortunately, with Sri Lanka a little less so, the region is highly corrupt.

True that projects in India are less expensive but that is a massive country that is able to do a lot more of the work itself and so has less need to hire foreigners to fully or partly complete works.

The good thing about this project is that it is being done by BD'shis and not foreigners and looks like the funding is also local - potential for more corruption but the experience is all local.

 

[RangeMaster]

Many, many Thanks brother for the info.

Cost is double in Bangladesh. 14X32 KM = 448 crore should be around there, How it gets to 1000 crore I have no idea. Of course Hasina muzzled the press so no one can say anything.

I am sure the extra money is going to Awami League people's pockets.

They are looting the country blind.

If Pakistan can build a world class road for half the cost (I'm sure there is some graft in Pakistan too) why can't we ?

I am damn sure cost is even lower in India, but they cut corners, depending on location.

Cost can vary depending on the region, geography, labor cost and the type of road / construction. Corruption is one factor, and is a must for any project involving South Asia.

Some more Pakistani examples....

The cost of recently inaugurated sialkot motorway is 62 crore per km or 31 crore taka per km but that's motorway, elevated (about 15 feet above ground), controlled access 4 lane highway.

While another example is gwadar east bay expressway costing about 147 crore per km or 74 crore taka per km without the benefits of controlled access and elevation, but involves anti erosion structure and wide pedestrian footpath.