Page 84 - IBT Sept 2021 (1)

Transportation Industry
By Amarta Galib Chowdhury
A Path
to
Progress
The long winding history of our
transportation sector is marked with
the promise of constant development
juxtaposed with its own challenges.
A major rural hub is known for its rich agricultural
heritage, Bangladesh is a unique case given its high
density of population and a success story of turning its
war-ravaged impoverished form into yet another Asian
success story. Much of the economic progress can be
traced to the country’s transport sector development.
Given its strategic position on the map, the delta republic
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offers its own sets of advantages which the
successive governments have tried to utilize at
varying degrees. This five-decade-long journey is
mixed with impressive steps on connectivity and
transport, though chronic problems continue to
plague economic growth.
However, Bangladesh is yet to develop
specialized agencies responsible for the overall
transport sector. The opening of a new railway
ministry in 2010 or other agencies has done little
to alleviate the problem. Local government,
metropolitan, and city governing bodies are
development while government agencies
responsible for road and bridge sector
dominate rail and water sectors. The absence of
central coordination has resulted in costly,
unnecessary reversal and delays.
Infrastructure development
Road, Rail and Water transport
The British efforts to shape the historical
water-based transport practice in Bengal
introduced some of the major rail projects in
the Indian subcontinent. The 1971 war left
most of the country’s road and river transport
systems in ruins. The government took major
steps in the 1980s by reshaping administrative
divisions. The introduction of union and
Upazilas meant major efforts were on the way
to penetrate rural areas. Upazila sadars were
connected with major highways, leading to the
economic centers of Dhaka, Chittagong, and
Khulna. Port of Chittagong and Mongla were
already major sectors in this regard. Domestic
political strife halted the efforts largely in the
late eighties to early nineties. Many projects
were shelved, slowed down, or overran the cost
and provided little to no result. The country
saw the second round of major infrastructure
development since the 2010s. A major port and
road facilities are being taken all around. Since
2006, ADB alone has loaned 6 billion USD for
the transport network.
The water flow of 24,000-kilometer-long river
systems has been a problem since
independence. Today 6,000 kilometers remain
navigational during monsoon; it reduces to
3,900 kilometers by the dry season. The river
transport system is cheap and preferred by
many in the Southern regions. While many
rivers lost their water level and ceased to be
operational by large boats; major routes of
Padma, Burigandha, or Meghna rivers are still
used by vehicles more than a thousand tonnes.
The river transport also serves fuel to crucial
Rampal power plant and export-import through
Mongla and Payra port. Recently, the first-ever
transboundary river shipment of export has
taken place through Khulna and Comilla to
India.
Railway also had a reputation as the safe,
cheap, and reliable transport sector.
Bangladesh has a 2,900 route kilometer rail
network. In recent times new tracks and
engines have been introduced to make the
railway profitable. Bangladesh Railway
operates almost five hundred stations across the country.
roads have been the preferred sectors by successive
However, though costlier to build and maintain, highways and
governments. Bangladesh has one of the densely built road
networks in the world. With its 21,302 kilometers long paved
and more unpaved network, roads have long replaced dying
river networks as the most preferred connection mode. More
than 3.4 million vehicles plow these roads, along with
numerous three-wheelers and other locally built motor and
paddle vehicles. The government has initiated major Projects
under Bus Rapid Transit and Metro Rail projects. Four Lane
Expressway connecting Dhaka and major industrial centers of
Dhaka, Gazipur, Narayanganj, Manikganj; 1.7 billion
expressway in Sylhet-Dhaka region are some of the promising
features. The brightest fit to step up Bangladesh’s road
transport is the building of Padma Bridge. These projects cost
immensely, for example, the Dhaka-Gazipur connecting road
costs more than 4,000 crores BDT and is already running
behind schedule. The Padma Bridge cost more than 28
thousand crores BDT. The utility of these new projects is
expected to be very high.
The economic impact of road and
transport sectors
The penetration of roads and modern facilities across the
country brought new economic opportunities to Bangladesh. It
has facilitated the growth of small vendors, roadside
businesses, and new marketplaces. The backbone of
Bangladesh's economy is its garment sector and industrial
satellite cities circling Dhaka. Since the 1980s, Dhaka,
Narayangang, and Gazipur have become the main industrial
hub, drawing millions across the country. Availability of cheap
labor and an equal surge of entrepreneurs largely depends on
the road and transport network being built around Dhaka and
to some extent Chittagong and other cities. Around 8 million
MSME industries and large businesses are mostly dependent
on road networks. Roads have brought electricity and future
chances for pipeline borne gas, water facilities. The building of
the highest road in Thanchi-Alikadam marked Bangladesh’s
significant attempt to connect backward hill regions and reap
the benefits of tourism thanks to the scenic beauty of
Chittagong Hill Tracts.
In 2021, the land and water transport sector added more than
1.8 trillion BDT to Bangladesh's GDP. Almost 4 million people
are employed here. The dominating sector is road
understandably, employing more than 80 percent of the
transport sector.
International commerce
Three major international airports and several regional ones
serve national-international passengers but the high ticket
price and short distance made airlines available to limited
users. The port of Chittagong serves 92% of Bangladesh’s
export trade, while four major land ports, including Benapole
with 80 percent of traffic, are mostly engaged
attempts to connect with the
with India. Bangladesh has taken several
Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar corridor and
Belt and Road Initiative,
Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) motor
vehicle agreement, and major projects
concerning these. The country is already
facilitating India’s connection with her
Northeast provinces, at the same time; transit
facilities are also helping Bangladeshi traders
to reach the Indian market.
Challenges
Though paved and unpaved roads are not a
dream anymore almost for most of the remote
corners, what Bangladesh suffers from is a
serious safety issue. Lack of training, proper
guidelines, and monitoring authorities,
depends on the driver's skills. Institutional
standards are not maintained. Outdated
corruption means the sole safety factor here
vehicles are a major concern too. Moreover,
most of the roads remain in poor conditions,
lack significant or long-lasting repair work, or
are just simply too narrow to support heavy
traffic. Roads are an expensive business in rules are frequent. This has led to a profit-driven private sector
Bangladesh. It’s arguably the most expensive too, disregarding public safety.
country to build roads, along with maintenance Frequent collisions and accidents are common in the water
and poor planning means frequent disturbance sector too. Only in the last 11 years, 387 vehicles have sunk,
for smooth operations. Bangladesh lacks any more than a hundred of them remain at the bottom of
specialized agency to overtake a coordinated channels. Government agencies are ill-equipped as their 4
approach in road infrastructure. Local rescue vehicles with a combined capacity of close to 700 tons
government and city development agencies are merely enough. Many river routes demand constant
overview the projects while there are frequent dredging while in many cases collisions between ships and
uncoordinated and ill-planned examples. bridges or accidents. Water flow remains a big problem and
Carelessness on the part of monitoring or demands constant dredging. Outdated vehicles are
planning authorities is abysmal. One example overwhelming in the 22,000 plus fleet using Bangladesh
suffices: The flyover in Dhaka’s waterways. Many of its 22 major ports remain underdeveloped
and underutilized. For example, the station in Pangaon Inland
Moghbazar-Mouchak area had to go through
major delay and rebuilding as the previously Water Terminal, built with much hype and investment,
remains mostly unused. River erosions and ill-planned river
approved design wasn’t suitable with the
Bangladesh road system. control projects also remain a problem. Another key issue is
environmental damage. This is particularly in the case of
In 2019 alone, 8,543 people lost their lives on Sundarbans where oil, coal, and cement carrying ships have
roads, along with 14,000 plus injuries.
Bangladesh roads remain one of the deadliest sunk frequently to make things worse. The government agency
to travel in the world. Student and public BIWTC is yet to achieve high standards suiting the river
protests resulted in the 2018 Road Safety Acts transport system.
but the details are yet to be implemented. Transport service lags well over international standards.
Railway also suffers the problem of Almost three-fourths of Bangladesh’s forty thousand plus
obsoleteness. 78 or more than one-third of busses operate in and around Dhaka. Syndicates and
engines of its inventory are outdated or monopolistic behaviors from the transport owner’s part have
demand much costly, constant repair jobs. As often resulted in clashes and poor service too. Constant hassle
rail and water transports are heavily dependent in the means of the ticket price, traffic congestion, and lack of
on the government, corruption and violation of monitoring bodies hamper public comfort and safety.