Build metro rail in Chattogram too: PM

Chattogram is going to have a metro rail network as the second city in the country after Dhaka where the service is due to be launched in December this year.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday asked the authorities concerned to build the metro rail from the Shah Amanat International Airport to the Chattogram Railway Station in the port city. 

She issued the directive at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec).

Planning Minister MA Mannan briefed journalists on the outcome of the meeting and said the Chattogram City Corporation has been asked to send a project proposal to this end.

The Planning Commission will then complete the process of approving the project proposal with due importance, he added.

The planning minister also said they should also plan metro rail-like development projects in other big cities of the country where there are large old airports.

The prime minister joined the meeting virtually from her official residence Ganabhaban while ministers and secretaries from the NEC meeting room at the city's Sher-e-Bangla Nagar.

The implementation of the first metro rail or Mass Rapid Transit (MRT-6) Line in Dhaka started in 2012 with Japanese funding. Initially, the project was supposed to be completed in 2024, but the work of the Uttara-Agargaon portion of MRT-6 will end in December this year following the PM's directive to finish it early.

The construction of the Agargaon-Motijheel portion will be completed in December 2023.

Till November last year, the progress of the MRT-6 Line was 89.88%.

The construction of two more metro rail routes in Dhaka is scheduled to begin this year.

The prime minister also instructed the authorities concerned to make arrangements for the water of the Chaktai canal in Chattogram to go underground, said MA Mannan.

She said the Chaktai canal water cannot move underground as the canal bed has been paved and this is causing waterlogging in the port city. She asked the authorities to take care of the matter.

At the Ecnec meeting, the premier emphasised setting up satellite towns instead of expanding the area of the Chattogram City Corporation, said MA Mannan.

The meeting also discussed the MRT-6 and other projects that are scheduled to end this year, he added.

The planning minister said work on two other mega projects – Padma Bridge and Karnaphuli Tunnel – would be completed this year.

He said once the projects are completed, economists believe that the country's economic growth will increase by 2-2.5%.

State Minister for Planning Dr Shamsul Alam said work on the Padma Bridge and Karnaphuli tunnel would be completed in June and October, respectively.

According to the feasibility study, once the Padma Bridge opens to traffic, the growth will increase by 1.2%. Although the survey report of the other two projects did not mention growth, the transportation of goods will increase.

He said once these three projects are completed, the growth could go up by 1.5-2%.

Meanwhile, the state minister for planning said that despite feasibility studies, the designs of development projects are being revised two to three times.

The contractors of the development projects are held responsible for such work, but no action is taken against organisations that conduct feasibility studies, he added.

"The prime minister has directed the authorities concerned to consider the matter with due importance," he added.