Construction works for metro rail tracks (viaduct) and elevated stations of the country’s first-ever metro rail to begin on Wednesday.
The project is aimed at improving the chronic traffic congestion in the capital city by 2020.
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader is scheduled to inaugurate the construction works of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system at 11am at Agargaon point.
According to the project details, the package CP-03 is for the construction of metro rail tracks (viaduct) and elevated stations from Uttara North to Pallabi, while the package CP-04 is for the construction of metro rail tracks and elevated stations from Pallabi to Agargaon.
The MRT Line-6 is an elevated system to be implemented in Dhaka, under a fast track priority initiative of the government, which will run from Uttara to Motijheel and carry some 60,000 passengers per hour in a day.
The government had already inked three deals with Italian-Thai Development Public Company Ltd, a Thailand-based construction firm, and with Chinese state-owned Sinohydro Corporation Ltd to build the country’s first-ever metro rail project on May 4 this year.
Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited, a state-owned enterprise will implement the metro rail lines across the capital at a cost of Taka 5,826 crore for packages of CP2, CP3 and CP4.
The project details said Tokyo Construction Co. Ltd was awarded after concurrence from JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) on March 27, 2016.
Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina launched the construction work of the metro rail project, also known as the MRT Line-6, on June 24, 2016.
The MRT-6 is being executed at a cost of about Taka 22,000 crore. Of the amount, the JICA is providing Taka 16,500 crore to the project, while the rest of the fund would come from the Government of Bangladesh (GoB), it said.
The 20.1-kilometer MRT Line-6 will run from Uttara Third Phase and pass through Pallabi, the west side of Rokeya Sarani and Farmgate, Hotel Sonargaon, Ruposhi Bangla, TSC of Dhaka University, Doel Chattar, Topkhana Road and Bangladesh Bank.
There will be 16 stations – Uttara North, Central and South, Pallabi, Mirpur-11, Mirpur-10, Kazipara, Taltala, Agargaon, Bijoy Sarani, Farmgate, Sonargaon, National Museum, Doyel Chattar, Bangabandhu National Stadium and Bangladesh Bank.
Source: The Daily Ittefaq