The current Jatrabari flyover construction will not suffice to reduce traffic congestion. Dhaka needs the following two projects very urgently. AL govt failed to start these projects.
1) A proposed Ital-Thai Company built 21 km long expressway that will be connected to all the four (?) flyovers. This will make the total length of elevated highway to about 45 km. I think it is quite long.
2) Construction of JICA financed elevated metropolitan railway transport (MRT-6) could not be started. The maximum number of passengers this MRT can carry is 60,000/hr during the pick hours. JICA has selected three separate railway routes, mrt-6, mrt-5 and mrt-3 inside the perimeter of Dhaka. There will be other three mid-distance lines that will take people out of Dhaka.
Both the Ital-Thai and JICA projects are important, but AL govt failed to start/implement them. I do not care which party comes to power, but I wish it to undertake these two very essential infrastructural projects.
Metro rail project getting final shape | Dhaka Tribune
Lets see if they can start the construction work.
Metro rail project getting final shape
The communication ministry is set to appoint consultant for the Tk220bn work, which will be opened by prime minister ‘soon’
The government is likely to finalise the appointment of a consulting firm for the Dhaka Metro Rail Project, with the target of starting its work from next month.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to lay a foundation stone for the project at Uttara soon. The date will be fixed after the PM returns from New York next week.
MAN Siddique, secretary of the communication ministry’s roads division, told the Dhaka Tribune on Monday that the ministry had finalised preparations for laying the foundation of the construction work.
The secretary, however, declined to disclose the name of the probable consulting firm, saying: “It is yet to be finalised. We will finalise it before arranging the foundation stone setting ceremony. Before getting approval of the (cabinet) purchase committee, it should not be disclosed publicly.”
Meanwhile, the communication ministry is in the final stage of appointing a consulting firm for the project at an estimated cost of Tk9.3bn.
The total expenditure for constructing the nearly 20km metro rail line in the capital has been estimated at Tk220bn.
According to sources at the ministry and Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA), the consulting firm will be selected by a technical committee from seven international organisations that bid for the position.
A Japanese company, Nippon Koei Ltd, is apparently on the top of the list as the lowest, and the best qualified bidder fulfilling the government’s conditions.
The DTCA has begun analysing the financial proposal of the company, the sources said. After scrutiny by the technical committee, it will be sent to the cabinet committee on public purchases for approval.
According to DTCA officials, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on September 3 gave its approval to appoint Nippon Koei as the consulting firm for the metro rail project.
The chosen consulting firm will prepare a detailed design, supervise the construction work and supply the equipment and rolling stocks for the project. It will also monitor and work to improve the management of the mass rapid transit system, they added.
Of the total expenditure, JICA will provide about Tk166bn for consultancy, preparing detailed designs and construction of the rail network.
The Bangladesh government will finance the remaining Tk54bn for land acquisition, rehabilitation of displaced residents and other relevant works.
The metro rail, consisting of high speed electric trains with engines in the front and back, will run from Uttara to Motijheel every 20 minutes, carrying at least 60,000 passengers every hour.
“We have already acquired 14.5 acres (5.9 hectares) of land in Uttara from Rajuk for construction of a metro rail depot. The main construction work will begin in the 2017-18 fiscal year,” a DTCA official said.
The project will be implemented in three phases. A portion from Pallabi to Hotel Sonargaon is expected to start operation in the first phase in 2019. The second portion from Hotel Sonargaon to Motijheel is likely to start in 2020, while the final part from Uttara to Pallabi in 2021.
.
