White elephant! The words are quite familiar. This is usually used to refer to something that is more expensive to maintain than it is to use. In fact, the tunnel built under the Karnaphuli River in Chattogram has turned into a white elephant after a year of operation.
A large number of vehicles will ply, and the construction costs will be covered with its tolls, and foreign loans can also be paid off - even though the Awami League government inflated the balloon of such expectations before the tunnel was built, it seems that it is gradually deflating.
A year ago, on October 28, this tunnel, the first under-river tunnel in South Asia, was opened. Accordingly, Monday (October 28) marks one year since the tunnel was opened. In this one year, vehicles did not run as expected. As a result, toll collection was very low. Toll collection and maintenance costs were 72 times more than the income. For this reason, many are calling it a loss-making project though the tunnel authorities want to wait another two years.
According to the tunnel authority, an average of 18,485 vehicles was expected to pass through the tunnel every day in the first year. But currently, there are about six times fewer vehicles, an average of 3,910. Therefore, although an average of Tk. 10,37,154 is collected as toll per day, Tk. 3,746,993 is being spent on maintenance. In other words, not even a third of the daily expenditure is being earned from the tunnel, the loss is Tk. 2,799,839. It was learned from talking to the tunnel authority that 1,411,412 vehicles of various types have passed through the tunnel in the last one year. Of these, private cars and microbuses (light vehicles) have passed through 76.75 percent, buses 10 percent, trucks 12.4 percent and trailers 85 percent. As of October 22, 3,910 vehicles have passed through the tunnel. In total, Tk. 37 crore 85 lakh 61 thousand 210 has been collected as toll per year. But the average daily expenditure on toll collection and maintenance is Tk. 37 lakh 46 thousand 993. Accordingly, Tk.136 crore 76 lakh 52 thousand 445 has been spent on maintenance in a year. It is seen that the loss in this one year has been Tk. 98 crore 90 lakh 1 thousand 235.
Basically, this dream tunnel has turned into a loss-making project because the survey does not match the reality. However, work is underway to quickly connect Cox's Bazar and Matarbari with the tunnel. If this is possible, it is believed that vehicle movement and income will increase.
Stating that we will have to wait another two years to get the benefits of the tunnel, the tunnel's sub-project director (technical) Abul Kalam Azad said that the tunnel is a long-term project, it cannot be called a loss-making project until all the plans are implemented here. Along with this project, there are plans to shift the activities of Marine Drive, China Economic Zone, Anwara-Baanshkhali-Cox's Bazar road and Chattogram Port to the Anwara-Karnaphuli end. If all these are implemented, this tunnel will play a huge role in the country's economy.
On the morning of October 26, Secretary of the Bridges Division Md. Fahimul Islam came to inspect the overall situation of the tunnel. He held a meeting with the officials responsible for the maintenance of the tunnel. In the meeting, they felt that less cars were running because the China Economic Zone and alternative roads were not operational at the Anwara end of the tunnel.
However, the locals are disappointed to see a huge gap between dreams and reality. The previous Awami League government had expressed the dream of a 'One City two Town' model around the tunnel. But no steps were taken to implement that plan. As a result, 7 bank branches, various markets and hundreds of shops built around the tunnel at the Anwara end are now facing losses and many have closed their businesses. Due to the tunnel, the price of land had increased several times in the beginning. Now, there has been a decline in sales.
In a recently published research paper titled 'How far-sighted is the construction of the tunnel?', Professor Dr. Shamsul Haque called the tunnel project a short-sighted plan.
The research paper mentioned that within 30 kilometers of the Karnaphuli Tunnel, there is the Shah Amanat Bridge. Compared to this bridge, the toll rate of the Karnaphuli Tunnel is two and a half to six times higher per vehicle. This difference in toll rate is creating a challenge in increasing the number of vehicles in the tunnel.
Disaster Management and Relief Adviser Faruk-e-Azam, who visited Chattogram a few days ago, also spoke about the tunnel. He said that a deep analysis is being done on whose instructions and for whom the Karnaphuli Tunnel was built. Now it remains to be seen what initiatives the interim government takes to accelerate this 'eye-catching' project.
