Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Tuesday stressed the need for building subways to free Dhaka from traffic congestion.
The government has taken up a project to construct subways in Dhaka city and a draft of the project titled ‘Feasibility study for the construction of the subway in Dhaka city' has been prepared, he said.
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Obaidul said this at a seminar held to elicit opinion on the project at a hotel in the city.
Drawing the attention of the two Dhaka city mayors who were present at the seminar, the minister said “Dhaka is a city of pollution and to make Dhaka a livable city new plans are needed.”
Talking about the planned subways, TYPSA, an advisory firm of Spain proposed 11 route alignments for the 238-km long Dhaka Subway network. Of the total the government has a plan to construct 105-km long four routes by 2030, Obaidul said.
Four routes are---
- 34.92km route stretching from Jhilmil via Tongi Junction route with 24 stations. The approximate expenditure of each km route is estimated at Tk 2,388 crore.
- 22.89km route stretching from Gabtoli via Bholabo union with 14 stations. The expenditure cost of each km is estimated at Tk 2,158 crore.
- 25.22 km from Keraniganj via Sonapur union with 15 stations. The total expenditure cost of each km is estimated at Tk 2,217 crore.
- 45.11 km long route from Jahangirnagar University to Narayanganj route with 32 stations. Possible expenditure per km is estimated at Tk 2,312 crore.
There will be no barriers in the land acquisition process as the subways will be constructed 25-70 meter deep under the earth, he said adding “Half of the residents of Dhaka city can move through the subways while the top of the ground would be free from traffic jams.”
Meanwhile, a deal was signed between China Shandong International Economic &Technical Cooperation Group Ltd (CSI) and Bangladesh Bridge Authority for constructing a 6.5 km two-story expressway from Panchabati of Narayanganj to Muktarpur Bridge of Munshiganj district.
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Secretary of Bridge Division Manjur Hossain was present there.
Project Director of road expansion and two-story expressway from Panchabati of Narayanganj to Muktarpur Bridge of Munshiganj district, Shafiqul Islam and Lyu Jin, a representative of the contractor firm signed the agreement, involving Tk 1200 crore on behalf of their respective field.