Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said that metro rail will be constructed in Chattogram as well after Dhaka. Chattogram is the commercial capital of the country, Chattogram green city and port city. With that in mind, the Prime Minister has planned to build a metro rail in Chattogram.
He said these things while joining the video conference of the chief guest's speech at the feasibility study of the metro rail project at Chattogram Radisson Blu Hotel on Tuesday morning.
Obaidul Quader said that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the metro rail in Dhaka and Chattogram up to Agargaon. A multi-line subway of 21 km is being constructed in Dhaka. 52 thousand crore takas will be spent on this subway. Of this, 40 thousand crores taka will be given by Japan's JICA. The remaining money will be borne by the Bangladesh government. Six more Metrorail’s in Dhaka City will be completed by 2030. The attraction of metro rail will definitely be in Chattogram.
Chattogram metro rail project manager Tony Ilho Chung said, 'We will check the feasibility of metro rail and subway in Chattogram. It will also be verified whether there will be a flying metro rail or not. But the main objective is to check the feasibility of the subway. This feasibility study may take 2-3 years.'
Tony Ilho Chung said, 'We want to verify the feasibility in such a way that we succeed. If there is a metro rail, the appearance of Chattogram will also change. The pressure on transport will be reduced. People will save time. It will also play a big role in Chattogram's economy.
Chattogram will also have metro rail to solve the traffic congestion problem. Feasibility check will be done before that. And it will take two years to verify the feasibility of Metrorail. For the implementation of this project of Metrorail, the Korean consulting company KOICA will conduct this feasibility study at a cost of more than 70 crore rupees. However, Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTC), Chattogram City Corporation (CCC), CDA (Chattogram Development Authority) and Chattogram Port will be involved in the feasibility study.
Under the chairmanship of Roads and Highways Department Secretary ABM Amin Ullah Nuri, Road Transport and Bridges Minister and General Secretary of Bangladesh Awami League Obaidul Quader MP delivered the chief guest's speech online. It is known that the total cost of implementing the project titled 'Transport Masterplan and Preliminary Feasibility Study for Urban Metrorail Transit Construction of Chattogram Metropolitan Area' is Tk 70 crore 63 lakhs. Out of this, Tk 13 crore 63 lakhs from Government Fund (GOB Fund) and Tk 57 crores from project support organization KOICA. The main activities of this project include consultancy services of Tk 57 crore (masterplan and pre-feasibility study), consultancy services of Tk 3.50 lakh (institutional development), outsourcing of Tk 2 crore 29 lakh, technical consultancy of Tk 1 crore, transport consultancy of Tk 1 crore and transport consultancy of Tk 2 crore. Tk 25 lakhs has been incurred in the car rental sector.
During the programme , Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud said, BNP is demanding that elections should be held under caretaker government in this country. There will never be a caretaker government in this country. Elections will be conducted in the same way as in all parliamentary democracies including India, USA, UK, Continental Europe, Japan, Australia. In all parliamentary democracies, the government in power holds office during elections. Do the same in our country.
He said that the current Prime Minister, People's Leader Sheikh Hasina will perform the duties of the Prime Minister during the election period.
His government will serve as the government during the election. And the election will be under the Election Commission. This march of BNP, or whoever will take the seat after a few days, will not be of any use.
When asked whether there will be any problem if BNP does not participate in the elections as before, the Minister of Information and Broadcasting said that any party or those who believe in democracy and the support of the people, if they boycott the elections, then they move away from the people. I don't know if I understand correctly. If they boycott the elections, they will move further away from the people. However, I hope they will participate in the elections. We want all political parties including BNP to participate in the elections. We want the people of the country to choose the government of the future through a fair and competitive election.
Dr Hasan Mahmud said, today is a happy day for Chittagong residents. Because many people of Chattogram did not think that there will be metro rail in Chattogram, it is a happy day for me too. For several years, I have submitted many times to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Road Transport and Bridges for the construction of Metrorail in Chattogram. Under the direction of the Prime Minister, the feasibility study is going to start today with the joint funding of the Korean government and the Bangladesh government.
He said that the global recession is going on in the world, the critical world situation, the government has suspended the activities of many projects in this situation. Many projects around the world have slowed down. In spite of that situation, the Prime Minister is moving ahead with the construction of Metrorail in Chattogram.
Referring to Chattogram as a beautiful city, the Information and Broadcasting Minister said that the importance given to the development of Chattogram by the Prime Minister can be understood only by discussing a project. A total of $1.2 million has been awarded to a city in three projects for flood relief. While those works are underway, there is a need to coordinate the work of the three projects. If those projects are implemented properly, I hope there will be no water in Chattogram city from next year.
He said, many mountains have been cut, due to the cutting of mountains, the aesthetics have been damaged, the environment has been damaged. The metro rail project will be very helpful in beautifying the city of Chattogram. The population of this city is increasing rapidly. After next ten years the population of this city will exceed one crore. This city is densely populated. Therefore, there is no alternative to Metrorail here.
Ambassador of South Korea to Bangladesh Lee Zang Keun, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges Principal Roshan Ara Mannan, Chattogram City Corporation Mayor Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, ERD Secretary Sharifa Khan, Chattogram Development Authority Chairman M Zahirul Alam Dobhas, DTCA Executive Director Sabiha Parveen, KOICA Bangladesh Country Director Young-Ah Doh spoke as special guests on the occasion.