SWARNOMOYEE MOSTAFA OISHY:

The government under supervision of the concerned Railway Ministry is going to set up underground railway to ease the traffic congestion in the capital.

Meanwhile, preparation has been taken up to build two more Metrorail. The new subway is going to add with the two, which is the first in the history of Bangladesh. So far, the progress of feasibility study and initial design making has been done around 30 percent.

The country’s first subway will be constructed under the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit)-1 project. In two phases, 19.872 Km of subway will be constructed from the airport to Kamalapur and 11.269 Km of flyover will be constructed from Natun Bazar to Pitalganj in Rupganj. Facility to change trains at Notun Bazar station has been kept for the passengers on this route so that the passengers of Kamalapur route can easily go to Purbachal route and the passengers of Purbachal route can easily go to Kamalapur route.

The overall cost of the MRT-1 project has been estimated at Tk 52,562 crore. Beside the Metrorail construction, the potential cost of MRT Line-5 northern route or northern Metrorail construction has been estimated at Tk 38,548 crore. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will provide loan assistance for these two projects. The company is also assisting in the feasibility study and detailed design of the two Metrorail, sources said.

It is learned that almost half of the five Metrorail will be underground railway. The second one or MRT Line-1 will be ended by 2026. It has two parts. A portion will go from the airport to Kamalapur via Khilkhet, Jamuna Future Park, Natun Bazar, North Badda, Badda, Hatirjheel, Rampura, Malibagh and Rajarbagh. The length of this part is 19.87 Km. Of this, 16.21 Km will be underground, which will be the first subway in the country’s history. The remaining 3.66 Km will be by air (elevated). There will be 12 stations in this part, all of which will be underground.

The second part of MRT Line-1 will go from Natun Bazar to Purbachal Depot via Jamuna Future Park, Bashundhara, Police Officers Housing Society, Mastul, Purbachal West and Purbachal Center. The length of this route is 11.37 Kilometers, whole of the route will be elevated expressway or by air. There will be nine stations on this route. There will be interchange at Natun Bazar station. Passengers will be able to use it on Airport-Purbachal route and Purbachal-Airport route. The construction cost of the 31.28 Km long Metrorail has been estimated at Tk 50,000 crore.

Five Metrorail will be constructed in Dhaka by 2030 in three phases. Construction of Metrorail or Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Line-6 ​​from Uttara to Motijheel is underway. It is targeting to be completed next year. In the first phase, construction of Uttara-Motijheel Metrorail will be completed by 2020. The initiative to build the MRT Line-6 ​​project was taken in 2012. After the preparation of the detailed design, the main construction work was started in 2016. The construction cost of the 20 Km long Metrorail has been estimated at Tk 21,985 crore. Of the amount, JICA is providing Tk 16,595 crore.

The length of the northern route of the third Metrorail or MRT Line-5 in Dhaka will be 19.60 Km. Of this, 13.60 Km will be underground (subway) and the remaining 6 Km will be by air. This Metrorail will go from Hemayetpur in Savar to Bhatia via Boliarpur, Madhumati, Aminbazar, Gabtali, Darussalam, Mirpur-1, Mirpur-10, Kachukhet, Banani, Gulshan-2 and Natun Bazar. The route will have 14 stations. Of them, nine will be underground, while five others will be by air.

On the other hand, the deadline for construction of Southern route of MRT Line-5 is 2030. The length of this part is about 16 Kilometers. It will be built by combining the flyover and the ground. In this part, the Metrorail will go from Gabtali to Technical, Kalyanpur, Shyamoli, College Gate, Asad Gate, Russell Square, Panthapath, Sonargaon Hotel, Hatirjheel, Niketan, Rampura, Aftabnagar West, Aftabnagar Center and Dasherkan via Aftabnagar East. This route has 17 stations. Pre-feasibility study of Southern route of MRT Line-5 has already started.

Besides, plans have been taken to build two more Metrorail for Dhaka and its surrounding areas. Of these, MRT Line-4 will be constructed under the existing railway line from Kamalampur to Narayanganj. Development partners have been asked to check the pre-feasibility of the 16 Kilometer-long Metrorail. Besides, MRT Line-2 from Gabtali to Kanchpur Bridge on Dhaka-Chittagong Highway will be constructed on GTZ basis. The governments of Japan and Bangladesh have already signed a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ (MoU) for the construction of the Metrorail through Public-Private Partnership (PPP). The proposal has been submitted for the feasibility study of the 24 Km long Metrorail.

Meanwhile, the Metrorail project implementing authorities are facing complications for want of soil dumping place in Dhaka and surrounding areas.

The subway in Dhaka will be 150 to 200 feet below the road. The stations will be several thousand square feet in size and have three or four floors. This will require removing a lot of soil from the subway tunnels and stations. There is not enough low-lying land in Dhaka and surrounding areas. Although, there are low lands or canals in some places, it is not possible to dump soil there to maintain the natural balance. So, multiple options are being considered for dumping the soil of Metrorail.

Seeking anonymity, an official of the concerned ministry said, various housing projects along the Dhaka-Mawa highway are being considered as the latest option for dumping soil. These projects will require a lot of dumping lot for sand or soil. In this case, it has been decided to contact the housing companies soon to remove the soil.