Govt 'going slow' with subway plan
DMTCL is now building a metro rail line. Subway construction will deteriorate traffic movement. Besides, it would require a huge amount of money, so authorities will go through with the move once funds are managed.
The government is taking a "go slow" policy for its plan to build a subway for Dhaka city and adjacent areas, which aims to ease traffic congestion and improve communication.
A proposal for forming a separate company for the subway's operation was placed before the board meeting of Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) yesterday.
But the board, with Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader in the chair, did not give the go ahead, asking relevant authorities to "go slow" with the move, meeting sources said.
The government has plans to build an underground railway network, with 258 kilometres of tracks in Dhaka. As per the draft feasibility study revealed in March this year, there will be 11 subway routes in the city and its outskirts. The routes will be constructed in three phases.
It would require $41,306 million for constructing four routes running for around 105 km in the first phase.
Around $34,477 million would be needed for building four other routes in the second phase during the period 2030 to 2040, and around $27,025 million for constructing another three routes and expanding two of the four routes built in the first phase by 2050, reads the document.
But many city planners and transport experts termed the move "highly ambitious". They said the project would not be viable due to huge construction, operation and maintenance costs.
To build and operate the underground railway network, BBA last year took the initiative to form a fully government-owned company for implementing its plan, even though a separate government company -- Dhaka Mass Transit Company Ltd (DMTCL) -- is tasked with developing a 130-km underground and elevated metro rail network in Dhaka and adjacent areas.
Documents of yesterday's board meeting mentioned that BBA has reserved the name "Dhaka Subway Company Ltd" with the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies.
Relevant documents for the company have already been prepared, and BBA's legal consultant has already made necessary changes and additions to the draft.
Despite all this, the meeting did not give the go ahead, said a participant of the meeting.
DMTCL is now building a metro rail line, while works for two other ones will start soon, he said, seeking anonymity, adding that in this situation, construction of the subway will deteriorate traffic movement.
Besides, the subway project would require a huge amount of money, so authorities will go through with the move once funds are managed, he mentioned.
Monjur Hossain, executive director of BBA, however, said they just informed the board about their move to form a separate company. "When the government takes the final decision regarding the subway's construction, the issue of forming the company would surface," he told The Daily Star yesterday.
Besides, he said the feasibility study has not been finished yet.
Instructed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, BBA started the feasibility study in September 2018. Led by Spanish firm TYPSA, a consortium is conducting the study, which is expected to end next month.