Mrt-5 southern route project on backburner

Multi-donor-funded Dhaka metro-rail southern-route project is put on the backburner as the post-uprising government culled some previously conceived megaprojects under reset development priorities to make the most of scant resources, officials say.          

Put on hold is the proposed Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development Project (Line-5): Southern Route aimed at developing a 17.20-km metro rail from Gabtoli to Dasherkandi through Panthapath and Hatirjheel.

Planning Adviser Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud has decided not to place the Tk 476.49-billion partly foreign-funded scheme before the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) for its seal of approval.

The project bankarolling includes Tk 323.31 billion in foreign loans from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and South Korea's EDCF.

After lying in wait on ECNEC's waiting list for more than two months, the project was returned last week by the Planning Adviser to the Physical Infrastructure Division of the Planning Commission with a note that reads "suspended for further review".

The Physical Infrastructure Division will notify the decision to the sponsoring Road Transport and Highways Division and other relevant agencies, including the Economic Relations Division (ERD) and the implementing agency, Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL), a senior Planning Commission official told The Fianncial Express.

Earlier, the RTHD had the  project to the Planning Commission in late 2023 with an estimated cost of Tk 546.19 billion, with the completion timeline to 2030.

Although the Project Evaluation Committee (PEC) had endorsed placing it before the ECNEC, the plan was put under review in September 2024 after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government following the student-mass uprising in August.

The cost proposal was later revised downward to Tk 476.45 billion and finally adjusted to Tk 476.49 billion, cutting the overall cost by 12.76 per cent.

Although the Tk 69.7 billion worth of cost cutting under an earlier directive from the Planning Adviser had drawn wide appreciation, officials now fear that the project's future gets cloaked in uncertain after its latest sendback.

They believe the chances of approval are slim under the current interim government, particularly with the national elections due in February next.

"The 2023 proposal planned to start the project in January 2024 and finish by 2030. The latest plan scheduled work from July this year to June 2032, delaying the start by 1.5 years and completion by 2.5 years, making approval by the current government unlikely," says an official at the Planning Commission.

The project on 17.20km metro rail--13.10km underground from Gabtoli to Aftabnagar and 4.10km elevated from Aftabnagar to Dasherkandi--is expected to host over 0.92 million commuters daily on average, with 15 proposed stations. The line is projected to save over 214.9 working hours per year by reducing commuting time to just 28.02 minutes along the entire alignment, compared to the current travel time of over two hours through the crammed capital city, Dhaka.

According to an Asian Development Bank (ADB) study, the metro line is expected to save 41,220 tonnes of fuel annually, while road-traffic distance reduced by 642,000 kilometres per year, cutting the movement of 1,049 vehicles. Annual carbon emissions are projected to drop by 207,964 tonnes.

The project aims to establish an east-west connection across Dhaka through an environment-friendly mass-transit system, according to project documents.

A pre-feasibility study was completed under the Dhaka Metro Project Preparatory Technical Assistance, funded by the ADB, while a full feasibility study was conducted in January 2022 under the Technical Assistance for Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development Project Line-5 (Southern Route) by the ESO Consortium, led by Egis Rail S.A in partnership with Oriental Consultants Global Co. Ltd. (Japan).

The Planning Commission, in a PEC meeting held in March this year, noted: "Once constructed, the Southern Route will reduce vehicle congestion and travel time on existing east-west corridors and lessen reliance on narrow roads."

Integration with MRT Line-5 (Northern) and Line-2 in the future will enhance service for commuters across Dhaka North and South City Corporations, the commission explained.

At the first ECNEC meeting of the interim government in October last year, a policy decision was made not to approve large-scale projects during its tenure. Planning Adviser Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud reaffirmed the same position last week at a press briefing following another ECNEC meeting.

"We are not deliberately taking on large projects. The loan-backed projects being proposed are not really necessary. We will only take on projects if we secure the loans. We want to move away from this approach," he said.

He added that the government would first vet and prioritise projects and then submit them to international organisations. "Only if they are willing to support or fund them will we proceed," he explained.

Earlier, DMTCL announced a time-bound plan to construct six metro-rail lines in Dhaka and surrounding areas, covering a total length of 129.90 kilometres, aiming to serve 5.24 million passengers daily by 2030.

Currently, only MRT Line-6 is partially operational, while construction work on two other metro projects approved by ECNEC in October 2019 has yet to begin. The two are MRT Line-1, underground from Airport to Kamalapur via Natunbazar with an elevated section from Natunbazar to Probal and MRT Line-5 (Northern) from Hemayetpur to Bhatara via Mirpur 10, Kachukhet, and Banani.

These two are facing uncertainties due to disputes with the lender, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), over proposed cost overruns and tendering-competition issues.

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