TDS Desk:

The Planning Commission of the government has taken a firm stand against the proposed megaproject MRT-05 (south) mainly due to its bloated costs and non-rationalisation in route selection.

“It plans to suggest that the authorities scrap the MRT-05 south line at this moment and go for building the MRT-02 route,” civil servants said on Monday.

Months ago, road transport and bridges ministry sent a massive Tk 54.619-billion project of the Dhaka Mass Transport Company Limited (DMTCL) to construct the Gabtoli-Dasherkandi corridor of the MRT-05 rail.

The Commission scrutinised the bloated outlay and decided to consult with the DMTCL and the line ministry regarding the importance of the project, according to the officials concerned said.

It will, therefore, suggest the ministry construct the MRT-02 line on a priority basis due to its higher rate of return, viability and coverage of population, let alone the commercial area of the old part of Dhaka.

Moreover, as MRT-05 north is being built for east-west links, the DMTCL should select MRT-02 line to cover the busy Dhanmondi, old part of Dhaka city and create opportunities for population in its south-west.

Currently, the MRT-05 south route is proposed to be built on Gabtoli-Mirpur Road-Panthapath-Karwanbazar-Hatirjheel-Aftabnagar-Dasherkandi route.

A senior member of the Commission said they took a tougher stance on the proposed project as all the past ones passed unquestioned during the Sheikh Hasina regime.

Another official said: “We’ve reviewed the gigantic MRT-05 south project. Since MRT-05 north line construction is going on, we now want to prioritise MRT-02, which may give more financial and economic returns.”

“So, we’ll suggest that the DMTCL go with MRT-02 first and MRT-05 second when the economy will be revived and foreign-exchange reserve stable.” The planning body will also suggest some revised options for MRT-05 south to the DMTCL if the government wants to build the line, according to the official.

According to the revised option for MRT-05 south, the DMTCL under the option-01 could construct this line from Karwanbazar to Dasherkandi trimming down the Gabtoli-Karwanbazar portion.

In the option-02, the DMTCL could start the line from Mohammadpur to Dasherkandi as the MRT-02 line start from Gabtoli.

In the option-03, the DMTCL can construct a branch line from Mohammadpur to Bijoy Sarani for connecting the existing MRT line-06, the official said.

Another senior official said since the DMTCL was already executing the MRT-05 north line started from Hemayetpur and going through Aminbazar-Gabtoli, there was no reason to take another big investment in the same direction.

The DMTCL has already started building the MRT-05 north route from Hemayetpur-Aminbazar-Gabtoli-Mirpur-01, Mirpur-10, Kachukhet-Banani-Gulshan-02 and Natunbazar-Vatara at Tk 412.38 billion.

The MRT-02 line will be constructed from Gabtoli-Dhaka Udyan-Mohammadpur Bus Stand-Jhigatola-Science Lab crossing-New Market-Azimpur-Plassey-DMCH-Gulistan-Motijheel-Kamalapur, which will go up to Narayanganj. Another branch line has been proposed for Golap Shah Mazar-Nayabazar-Sadarghat route as it will join with the mainline at Gulistan.

According to the DMTCL’s project proposal, the total length of the MRT-05 south project is about 17.4 km between Gabtoli station and Dasherkandi station with an underground section of about 12.8km and an elevated section of about 4.6 km with 12 underground and four elevated stations.

A depot accommodating rolling stocks and operational facilities for the south line is planned near the east end of the project at Dasherkandi station. The south line will be connected with the north line at Gabtoli station, both of which will serve as east-west corridors and make it possible to transfer with north-south MRT/BRT at several stations