Despite the completion of the feasibility study and the securing of funds from financiers, the project to construct the country’s largest inland container depot is now facing a dilemma over its location.
As part of a plan initiated nearly two decades ago, Bangladesh Railway intends to construct the Inland Container Depot (ICD) on a 154-acre plot of land located in Dhirasram, Gazipur city.
The Railway had planned to start the $774.56 million project in the next year after completing the land acquisition.
But the Planning Commission is not giving its approval as it is now in favour of setting up the depot at Kaliganj, outside the Gazipur City Corporation area, fearing it will create traffic chaos in the heavily industrialised city.
There is an ICD in Kamalapur with a rail link at the heart of the capital and it is suffering from container congestion inside as well as traffic congestion outside.
Once the new project is completed, operations of this depot will be shifted there so that Kamalapur can be turned into a multimodal transport hub.
According to the Planning Commission, it will not be economically profitable to set up such a depot in the Gazipur City Corporation area. Apart from the construction of a new railway line to establish a link with the depot, agricultural land, forestland and water bodies have to be acquired for this.
After an inspection of Dhirashram site on 28 November 2022, a report prepared by the Planning Commission says 70% of the garment factories in the country are in Gazipur and Savar.
As the city continues to expand, the operation of ICD will inevitably create traffic jams. Besides, to build a depot at Dhirashram, a railway line of 7.2km from Pubail to Dhirashram has to be constructed and 78 acres of land have to be acquired for this, the report said.
But if it is in Kaliganj, there is no need to construct additional tracks as the site is by the Dhaka-Chattogram rail lines which can be connected to the depot. Besides, there is very little agricultural land and no forests and wetlands there.
According to the commission, a U-loop has to be built on the Dhaka-Bhulta bypass road at the entrance and exit of ICD in Dhirasram. It will hamper vehicular movements on the highway.
The Bangladesh Railway sent a project proposal of Tk3,473 crore to the Planning Commission for land acquisition for the ICD construction in Dhirasram, which is awaiting approval.
Railway officials said the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to finance the installation of the original ICD. Railway had planned to start the construction of the main ICD in 2024 after completing the land acquisition.
The survey work of the project has already been completed. If the ICD is now shifted to a new location, a new feasibility study has to be conducted. This may delay the construction of the ICD by another two years, which may eventually put ADB’s loan availability in this project in jeopardy, officials said.
