Urban planners, transport experts and right activists have termed the government move to construct subways a disaster as it will not bring any positive changes in the capital’s traffic situation. Rather, they said, it would prove to be a burden considering its physical, socio-economic and environmental impact. Thus, they suggested the government to refrain from such a costly project. Instead, the government should focus on completing the ongoing mega projects, including the metro rail, rationalisation of bus routes by bringing buses under a few companies and decentralisation of the Dhaka city.
The remarks came at an online discussion titled ‘Dhaka subway train project: analysing the practicality in sustainable transport planning’, organised by the Institute for Planning and Development (IPD) in the capital on Friday. Jahangirnagar University urban planning professor and also the IPD executive director Adil Mohammed Khan in his keynote presentation discussed the government’s move to construct the highly expensive Dhaka Subway for easing the traffic congestion in the capital. The expected cost of the subway project would be Tk 882,380 crore for 11 routes, which is around 1.5 times of the country’s current budget amount. The present budget amount is Tk 603,681 crore. Of the routes, four would be completed by 2030 and the others by 2050. To him, ‘The high ambitious project does not match with the country’s current socio-economic condition’.
Though Dhaka has enough population for a subway, the project is not viable for its high construction and maintenance cost, said experts, participating in the discussion. However, the government has already carried out a feasibility study for a 238km subway network and made a preliminary design for 90km at the cost of Tk 321 crore under a 35-month project. It was alleged that the feasibility study ignored the socio-economic and environmental impact of the project. Even the developed countries, including the United States, are discouraging constructions of subways nowadays due to its high operational and maintenance cost. Reportedly, the government did not take any experts’ opinion in this regard.
Already unplanned construction and a lack of coordination have turned Dhaka into an uninhabitable city. Traffic problems cannot be resolved without better coordination among different service providers. Besides, the government should focus on the decentralization of Dhaka city and creating more employment and increasing living standards in the district levels. Otherwise, the proposed underground railway project may turn into a “white elephant”.
The bureaucratic love for mega projects is easy conceive as show pieces and good for corruption and money laundering. To device useful development project according to priority required serious thinking and touch with the people. The bureaucratic thinking is set and not creative for the benefit of poverty alleviation. Jobless people are risking their lives to go abroad in tens of thousands for inhumanly treated low jobs which should a shame for us as a nation.
