The Dhaka-Chattogram highway expansion project is a classic case of how poor planning and bad decisions can cause a huge waste of public money.
The project covering 192km stretch took Tk 3,439 crore to turn a two-lane highway into a four-lane one.
But within just two years of its formal opening in 2017, the highway suffered substantial damages, forcing the government to sanction another Tk 793 crore for repair and maintenance.
The highway, considered the lifeline of the country’s trade and commerce, was supposed to last for ten years without any major damage, according to the initial design of the project taken up in 2006.
But it started falling apart six months into its inauguration, thanks to the absence of a feasibility study and proper traffic forecast.