Another controversy surfaced against the state minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives, Mir Shahe Alam, as recently prime minister Tarique Rahman rejected his proposal to change the route of an ongoing railway project to construct a new line between Bogura and Sirajganj.
Bangladesh Railway is now implementing the ‘Construction of Dual Gauge Railway Line from Bogura to Shahid M Mansur Ali Station, Sirajganj of railway’ project.
Under the project, an 86-kilometre new railway line, a mix of metre and broad gauge, will be constructed, which will reduce the distance between Dhaka and Bogura by about 112 km and the travel time by three hours.
Currently, trains go to Bogura city from Dhaka via Sirajganj, Pabna, Natore and Shantahar, while the new line will go to Bogura city from Sirajganj, via Ranirhat in Bogura.
Against this backdrop, state minister Mir Shahe Alam sent a letter to the office of railways ministry secretary Md Fahimul Islam on June 1, proposing that railway the line be routed to Gabtoli upazila instead of passing through Bogura city in order to improve connectivity with the northern districts.
Following his proposal, the railway would have to build an extra 15-km line to Gabtoli, which would increase the project cost, said a railway officer.
After the proposal by the state minister, whose constituency is Bogura-2 (Shibganj), locals protested, demanding the new line through the city, the officer added.
On June 16 the, the railway ministry informed the prime minister about the situation and the prime minister instructed to implement the project as per the earlier plan.
The Tk 5,579.7 crore project got approval from the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council on October 30, 2018 funded by the Indian Line of Credit.
After the Indian government backtracked from funding the project, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank agreed to fund the project and railway revised the project proposal.
The estimated project cost now increased to around Tk 12,400 crore and deadline extended till June 2031.
As per the project office, the cost increased due to increased dollar and land prices.
Railways ministry secretary Md Fahimul Islam said on Thursday that they had sent the revised project proposal to the Planning Commission and now awaiting the approval.
Mir Shahe Alam continues to stay at the centre of controversies with the arrest of a newspaper’s acting editor and the revelation that a school in Bogura’s Shibganj was being renamed after him.
Earlier this month, four new unions were created as part of an administrative reorganisation at Shibganj upazila and of the newly formed Mokamtala upazila. Three of the unions were named after his two sons and one niece.
The naming issue was also raised at Jatiya Sangsad on June 15.
Following the prime minister’s instruction, local authorities were directed to initiate the renaming process for which three separate committees were formed.
