Trade
4 years ago

Motijheel-Kamalapur part of MRT line-6

DMTCL plans to acquire land of govt agencies, pvt buildings

Picture used for illustrative purpose only
Picture used for illustrative purpose only

Published :

Updated :

The Dhaka metro-rail company is planning to acquire the land of government agencies and also the land of some private buildings for the Motijheel-Kamalapur part of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line-6 in the capital.

The Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) has completed the topography survey on the part. It is now working on how to establish the link.

"For technical reasons, the main road cannot be used for the MRT-6 route's Motijheel to Kamalapur part like what was possible for the route's Uttara to Motijheel part. So the agency has taken a decision to acquire minimum areas of land and also use government land to lead the line towards the Kamalapur railway station," DMTCL Managing Director M A N Siddique said.

He also said the company is now conducting a social study before taking a final decision in this regard.

According to the topography survey, the DMTCL may seek land from the Bangladesh Railway and the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation and also seek to demolish 31 structures to make way for the line leading to the Kamalapur railway station.

The DMTCL MD said the social study is expected to be completed by this month. It will be shared with all stakeholders before taking the final decision.

The company has long been struggling to complete the country's first metro-rail on the southern side of the city in the absence of enough space.

It recently got the Prime Minister's nod to route the line from Motijheel to Kamalapur through the main road.

However, the state-owned company faced a fresh blow after Bangladesh Railway rejected the route's entry to the Kamalapur station from the frontal side.

The BR opposed the DMTCL's plan due to its strategy to keep open the front side for meeting requirement of the Japanese investor, who will invest billions of dollars to set up a multimodal transport hub at Kamalapur under public-private partnership.

The MD, however, said the entire extension of the route through the main road is not possible due to frequent and sharp turning of the road. So, the DMTCL is planning to take the route through a comparatively narrow road from the Motijheel main road by demolishing some structures.

Initial observation has found that these buildings are not built with strong foundations, and will not have any serious impact. The final decision will taken based on the social study.

The MD also told the FE that DMTCL had no difficulties with BR, and was trying to overcome all the challenges to completing the government's initiative to set up the multimodal transport hub at Kamalapur.

The hub is also a part of the MRT design, he added.

[email protected]

 

Share this news