Metro rail project: 343 officials infected with coronavirus
Some 343 people including local and foreign engineers working under the metro rail project have been infected with coronavirus.
Recently, six foreign engineers have been infected with coronavirus.
MAN Siddique, managing director (MD) of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) disclosed the information in a virtual press conference on Monday. DMTCL is a state owned company and is in charge of the metro rail project.
The MD said all the foreign officials will be given the coronavirus vaccine from 17 March onward.
MAN Siddique said that the progress of the under construction metro rail from Uttara to Motijheel is 58.72 per cent. The progress from Uttara to Agargaon portion is 81.42 per cent. The construction work of the flyover has been completed in the entire 11.63 km of this section. Now other works including laying down railway lines are going on.
According to the DMTCL sources, the construction work of the metro rail project came to a halt in April and May after the outbreak of the coronavirus in March.
Despite resumption of the work later, the pace of work lessened as many of the foreign engineers left Bangladesh for their own country. At one stage, the authorities concerned built two field hospitals in Uttara and Gabtoli.
About ten thousand people were working under this project before the coronavirus outbreak. They can be classified into three different categories. They are – advisers, contractors and subcontractors. Most of the advisers are foreigners. Only a few of them are local. There are both- foreign and local people in the contract firms.
Planning minister MA Mannan said metro rail would be launched on 16 December this year.
When asked whether the entire portion of the metro rail or the portion till Agargaon will be inaugurated on that day, MAN Siddique said that the first train of metro rail is scheduled to arrive on 23 April. The trial run will begin. A decision will be made regarding passenger transportation after discussing with the government. The government will decide whether the entire metro rail will be inaugurated or not.
A decision has been made to extend the metro rail lines up to Kamalapur Railway Station.
When asked about the expenditure for the extended rail lines, he said, the work is underway to design the extended portion. Once the design is completed, the estimated cost of this extended portion can be assessed.
The project of constructing 20.10 km metro rail from Uttara to Motijheel was undertaken in 2012. The estimated cost of this project is Tk 220 billion (22,000 crore).
Japan’s agency JICA is financing the largest portion. Apart from this, the government has taken initiative to build five more metro rail lines in Dhaka. There are plans to launch all metro rails by 2030.