‘New’ town, same old mistakes

What was supposed to be an "ideal town" to take some of the population burden off Dhaka city has so far been revised five times since its initiation in 1995, with its progress still a far cry from completion. It has now been 11 years since the initial deadline of Rajuk's Purbachal New Town project, and the initial population estimate (10 lakh) has nearly tripled while the initial project cost (Tk 3,312 crore) has more than tripled. Let us not forget that all of these delays and revisions are being financed by public money.