A

Report
On

“Dhaka Metro Rail Project”

Prepared by Group No. 7

 “Dhaka Metro Rail Project”

Course Code : F-408

Course Title : Project Appraisal and Management
Submitted To
Rabeya Sultana Lata
Lecturer
Department of Finance & Banking
University of Barishal

Submitted by
Group no. 07

Session: 2017-18 (AS: 2014-15)

Department of Finance & Banking

University of Barishal

Date of Submission: 08/07/2019

 Group 7

Name ID NO.

Md Aslam Hossan 14 FIN 017

Md. Maruf Hossain 14 FIN 036

Md. Sohag 14 FIN 045

Suvangkor Biswas 14 FIN 055

Istiak Ahmed Apu 14 FIN 062

Chowdhury Nazmul Huda 14 FIN 063

Md. Asadur Rahaman Khan 14 FIN 070

“Dhaka Metro Rail Project”
Letter of Transmittal

8th July, 2019

Rabeya Sultana Lata
Lecturer,
Department of Finance & Banking
University of Barishal
Subject: Submission of a report on Dhaka Metro Rail Project

Dear Sir,

It is our pleasure to submit our report titled Dhaka Metro Rail Project. To fulfill your
requirement, we put our best effort to follow the instructions of you in preparing this report. It
was a great learning experience for us. We tried to the maximum competence to meet all the
dimensions required from this report.

We, therefore, are grateful to you for your kind co-operation in this report. We hope the report
will satisfy you.

Sincerely yours,

Md Aslam Hossan

On behalf of Group – 7

4th year 2nd semester

I
Acknowledgement

This is a great pleasure for us to be assigned under the guidance of Rabeya Sultana Lata,
Lecturer, Department of Finance and Banking, University of Barishal. We are very grateful to
her for all her kind co-operation and guidance in preparing this report. Her valuable suggestions
& guidelines helped us a lot to prepare this report in a well-organized manner.

We would also like to thank her for giving us an opportunity to work on this topic ‘ Dhaka Metro
Rail Project’ as it gave us an opportunity to participate and learn about this project.

II
Executive Summary
Dhaka is one of the world’s largest and fastest growing cities. It is also the world’s most crowded
large city and faces acute transport problems. In 2015 an updated transport strategy for the city
was prepared by consultants for the Government of Bangladesh. The Revised Strategic Transport
Plan (RSTP) looked at transport infrastructure and management proposals for the next 20 years
(2015-2035).The draft RSTP proposed 5 Metro-rail lines ,including MRT Line1,MRT Line
2,MRT Line 4, MRT Line 5,MRT Line 6. Currently the metro rail system consists of one line
referred to as the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) Line-6, with other metro rail lines being added in
the future. The Dhaka Metro Rail Line-6 consists of 16 elevated stations each of 180m long and
20.1 km of powered light rail tracks. MRT Line-6. All of Line-6, save for the depot, as well as
some of its accompanying BRT, will be elevated above current roads primarily above road
medians to allow traffic flow underneath .Construction began on 26 June 2016 with an
inauguration ceremony presided over by Sheikh Hasina The deal for construction of the 20.1
kilometres Line 6, costing $2.8 billion, was signed by the Government of Bangladesh with the
Japan International Cooperation Agency on 20 February 2013. This first route, originally
projected to start from uttara, a northern suburb of Dhaka, to Sayedabad, in the south of the
capital, was eventually extended north to Uttara and truncated south to Motijheel.

Each train will hold up to 1800 passengers. With 56 trains to be in service by 2019, Dhaka Metro
is projected to serve more than 60,000 passengers per hour by 2021, with wait times of
approximately 4 minutes.The entire route will be able to be travelled in less than 40 minutes at
an average speed of 100 km/h. The project is being managed by the Communications Ministry's
Dhaka Transport Co-ordination Authority, and a consortium of foreign as well as Bangladeshi
firms known as NKDM Association is acting as General Consultant (GC). NKDM Association
consists of: Nippon Koei Japan, Nippon Koei India, Delhi Metro Rail Corp (India), Mott
MacDonald UK, Mott MacDonald India and Development Design Consultants (local consultant-
Bangladesh)

III
 Subject Page No

Letter of Transmittal I
Acknowledgement II

Executive Summary III

Chapter -01 Introduction 1

Objectives of the study 2

Source of Information 2
Scope of the Report 2

Introduction Limitations 2

Methodology 2

Conception and Origin 3

Project Components, Dates and Progress 3

Network 4

Route alignment 4

Fact box: All you need to know about Bangladesh 8

metro rail project
Chapter 2
Project timeline 9

Why is metro rail construction costlier in 11

Bangladesh?
Environmental and Social Issue 12

Challenges of Dhaka Metro Rail project 12

Chapter -03 Conclusions 13

Conclusion
Reference 14

Table of content:
Introduction
The Dhaka Metro is an approved metro rail system under construction in Dhaka, the capital and
largest city of Bangladesh. Together with a separate BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) system it has been
long called for to solve the extreme amount of traffic jams and congestion that occur throughout
the entire city on a daily basis, among the heaviest in the world. It is a part of the 20-year long
Strategic Transport Plan (STP) chalked out by the Government's Dhaka Transport Coordination
Authority (DTCA).

Currently the metro rail system consists of one line referred to as the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit)
Line-6, with other metro rail lines being added in the future. This term paper focuses mainly on
Dhaka MRT Line-6.

The Dhaka Metro Rail Line-6 consists of 16 elevated stations each of 180m long and 20.1 km of
powered light rail tracks. MRT Line-6. All of Line-6, save for the depot, as well as some of its
accompanying BRT, will be elevated above current roads primarily above road medians to allow
traffic flow underneath, with stations also elevated.

Construction began on 26 June 2016 with an inauguration ceremony presided over by Sheikh
Hasina. The civil work is being done by the Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited
and Sinohydro Corporation Limited JV and a Tokyo-based construction company is developing
the depot's land.

The deal for construction of the 20.1 kilometres Line 6, costing $2.8 billion, was signed by the
Government of Bangladesh with the Japan International Cooperation Agency on 20 February
2013. This first route, originally projected to start from uttara, a northern suburb of Dhaka, to
Sayedabad, in the south of the capital, was eventually extended north to Uttara and truncated
south to Motijheel.

Each train will hold up to 1800 passengers. With 56 trains to be in service by 2019, Dhaka Metro
is projected to serve more than 60,000 passengers per hour by 2021, with wait times of
approximately 4 minutes.The entire route will be able to be travelled in less than 40 minutes at
an average speed of 100 km/h (62 mph), expected to drastically reduce the number of private
cars on Dhaka's streets as well as their potentially 7-hour-long standstills.

When the service is in full operation, trains of six air-conditioned spacious cars will arrive every
four minutes going each way at each of the 16 stations.

The project is being managed by the Communications Ministry's Dhaka Transport Co-ordination
Authority, and a consortium of foreign as well as Bangladeshi firms known as NKDM
Association is acting as General Consultant (GC). NKDM Association consists of: Nippon Koei
Japan, Nippon Koei India, Delhi Metro Rail Corp (India), Mott MacDonald UK, Mott
MacDonald India and Development Design Consultants (local consultant-Bangladesh).

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Objective of the Study
Considering the various studies on project management, the primary objective of this study is to
complete the BBA course task named as project management and appraisal and ultimate
objective is to test the applicability of Dhaka Metro Rail Project. To test, the main objectives is sub
divided into further sub objectives:
 To measure the positive impact of this project to reduce traffic jam.
 To know the financing & cost of this project.
 To know the corporate body related with its financial obligation.
 To analyze the environmental and social issue related with project.

Source of Information
This report is prepared based on secondary data because we don’t have any scope to visit plant
area, for this reason we prepare this report by collecting data from different website and
newspaper. All information provided here is reliable and true.

Scope of the Report

This project study was so helpful for us, in enriching our practical knowledge which we learned
from book. And we also knew its benefits and negative impact of this project on our country that
makes us prepare for further study. This project is a large project for our country and it is the first
Mass Rapid Transit, through studying this project we acquired a huge knowledge on impact of
rapid transportation system on reducing traffic congestion of Dhaka city also.

Limitation of Report
On the way of our study, we have faced the following problems that may be termed as the
limitations/shortcoming of the study. The main limitations encountered in producing this term
paper are:

 Lack of information
 Lack of proper knowledge about this project
 Lack of experience on project management.
 Lack of primary data.

Methodology
The report has been prepared on the basis of the knowledge about ongoing Dhaka Metro Rail
project. To complete our task, most of the data, which have been used for outlining baseline
condition, have been collected from secondary sources. Data from secondary sources on physical
environment, socio-economic condition have been collected for assessing environmental and
social impact of the project.

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Conception and Origin
In a view to implement Dhaka City's 20-year long Strategic Transport (STP), Bangladesh
Government invited Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to conduct a primary survey
and feasibility study on the transport system of Dhaka back in 2009–2010. In 2012 the
Government's Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the
project. A loan agreement between Bangladesh Government and JICA was signed in January
2013. The same year, Dhaka Mass Transit Company Ltd. (DMTC), the implementing agency of
MRT Line-6 project was formed. The General Consultant (GC) namely the NKDM Association
commenced work from February 2014.

In June 2013, Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTC) was established by the
Government to implement the Metro Rail Lines across the City. The project will be constructed
under the supervision of (DMTCL) under the jurisdiction of Road Transport and Highway
Division, Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges, Government of Bangladesh. Once complete,
metro rail services would be operated by DMTCL.

Project Components, Dates and Progress

The project will be implemented under eight construction packages (CP). The development
components or construction packages include – CP-01 (Depot Land Development), CP-02
(Depot Civil & Buildings), CP-03, CP-04 (Viaduct & Stations, Uttara-Agargaon), CP-05, CP-06
(Viaduct & Stations, Agargaon-Motijheel), CP-07 (Electro-Mechanical Systems) and CP-08
(Rolling Stock & Depot Equipment).

Utility relocation from Mirpur-10 to Agargaon was planned to start August 2016, Other surveys
have already been completed during the period of 2014 – October 2016 as mentioned by the
project director Topographic Survey, Traffic Survey, Geotechnical Survey, Right of Way (ROW)
Survey, Historical Importance/ Archeological (HIA) Survey, Environmental Baseline (EBL)
Survey, Soil Electric Resistivity (SER) Survey and Utility Verification Survey.

As of May 2015, soil testing for the line was completed, with construction for the first section
having begun on 26 June 2016, and construction for the second section planned to begin in July
2017, for planned public operation by the end of 2019 and sometime in 2020, respectively.

A Japanese firm Tokyo Construction Ltd, is carrying out the depot land development work (CP-
01). Tokyu Construction Ltd will develop the depot on a 23.84-hectare of land during the
construction period at the cost of around ৳5.67 billion (US$67 million). He said the Pre-
Qualification (PQ) of CP-02 has already done and 15 firms are qualified for this. Tender for CP-
02 is already floated and the last date of the submission is 6 September this year. While asked
about CP-03 and CP-04, he said PQ process has been done on 20 April this year. Tender has
been invited and the last date of submission is 8 August 2016. But the date may be extended, he
mentioned.

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Network
In this Dhaka Metro Rail network, there will be five lines.

Line First operation/ Length Starting point Ending point

expected run

MRT Line 1 Est.2026 27 km Dhaka Airport Kamlapur

MRT Line 2 est. 2025 24 km Ashulia Kamalpur

MRT Line 4 est. 2035 16 km Kamalpur Narayanganj

MRT Line 5 est. 2025 20 km+21km Bulta Badda

MRT Line 6 expecting to be 20.1 km Uttara Motijheel

completed by
2020

Route alignment

MRT-1

According to official information, the nearly 27km-long metro line-1 stretches from the
international airport to Kamlapur and Purbachal.

With expected completion by 2026, the metro line's construction cost has been roughly estimated
at Tk 50,000 crore.

With the feasibility study completed, the metro rail authorities in October signed an agreement
with a total of seven Japanese and Indian companies and one Bangladeshi company led by
Nippon Koei Company Limited of Japan for detailed design in four years starting July this year.

The Tk 513 crore agreement covers engineering services for detailed design and tender
assistance for construction work. The Japan government has committed to contribute Tk 404
crore as loans and the Bangladesh government will pay the rest.

It comprises of two routes: one from the airport to Kamlapur across Khilkhet, Jamuna Future
Park, Natun Bazar, Badda, Rampura, Malibagh and Rajarbagh covering a length of about 16.5km
—the country's first metro rail line with all 12 stations underground.

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The other route named Purbachal stretches from Natun Bazar across Jamuna Future Park,
Bashundhara, Mastul to Purbachal depot covering 10km with nine stations, of which seven will
be elevated.

Natun Bazar station will have an interchange for transfer of passengers between the two routes of
the same metro line.

MRT-2

The 24km-long metro line-2 is proposed to stretch from Gabtoli to Chattogram road across
embankment road, Basila, Mohammadpur, Satmasjid Road, Jhigatola, Science Laboratory, New
Market, Azimpur, Palashi, Dhaka Medical College, Golap Shah Mazar, Banga Bhaban,
Motijheel, Arambagh, Kamlapur, Mugda, Manda, and Demra.

Following a memorandum of understanding with the government of Japan in June and a follow-
up meeting in December last year and another meeting in June this year, the Bangladesh
government made a proposal to the Japan government in July this year for technical assistance to
carry out the pre-feasibility study of this metro route.

MRT-4

The 16km underground metro line-4 stretches from Kamlapur to Narayanganj and the proposed
route stretches along Dhaka-Narayanganj railway track. With the number of stations still
unspecified, the government is looking for a prospective development partner to conduct the
feasibility study and develop the transport facility.

MRT-5

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The 41km-long metro line-5 comprises of two routes. The northern one is expected to be
completed by 2027 and the southern by 2030.
The 20km northern route is proposed to stretch from Hemayetpur of Savar to Bhatara through
Baliarpur, Amin Bazar, Gabtoli, Dar-Us-Salam, Mirpur, Kachukhet, Banani, Gulshan and Natun
Bazar with a total of 14 stations, of which nine will be underground and the rest elevated.

Preparation of a draft project document for the northern route is underway. Meanwhile, a loan
agreement for engineering assistance was signed in June this year and the metro rail authorities
have given a proposal for hiring engineering service consultants to carry out feasibility studies.

On the other hand, a pre-feasibility study on the 21km southern route started in May this year
with loans from a development partner. The southern route stretching from Gabtoli to Bhulta is
targeted to be completed by 2030. The exact route alignment, number of stations, location of
depot, and underground and elevated sections of this route will be determined through the pre-
feasibility study.

The possible stretch of the route will go through Technical intersection, Kalyanpur, Shyamoli,
Asad Gate, Russel Square, Panthapath, Sonargaon, Hatirjheel, Rampura, Aftab Nagar, Dasher
Kandi, Baralu Bazar and Ganga Nagar, terminating in Bhulta.

MRT Line-6
Currently the metro rail system consists of one line referred to as the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit)
Line-6

The Dhaka Metro Rail Line-6 consists of 16 elevated stations each of 180m long and 20.1 km of
powered light rail tracks

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As of October this year, the first-phase 12km of the maiden metro rail stretching from north
Uttara to Agargaon has made one-fourth progress with 300 metres viaduct visible in Diabari and
construction piers all along the route.

With land development of the depot of the maiden metro line completed in January this year,
completion of construction work of the depot structures is targeted by June next year with 19
percent progress so far, according to official information.

The construction of nearly 12km viaduct and nine stations from north Uttara to Agargaon that
started in August last year has made progress with 2,232 of 2,333 pilings, 235 of 766 pile caps,
88 of 448 pier heads and 617 of 4,577 precast segments so far done.

The construction of the 3km viaduct and three stations from Agargaon to Karwan Bazar began in
August this year and at the same time the construction of the 5km viaduct and four stations from
Karwan Bazar to Motijheel began.

Procurement and installation of the electrical and mechanical system of this metro line that began
in July this year have made three percent overall progress.

Procurement and installation of rail coach and depot equipment that began in September last year
have made 13 percent physical progress keeping in view that the metro service is going to open
by the end of next year.

In view of the latest progress in building the metro line-6, they would be able to open the metro
service up to Agargaon by December next year and carry passengers. Rest of the metro service
up to Motijheel will be ready by December 2020.

Fact box: All you need to know about Bangladesh metro rail project

Metro rail is aimed at easing the perennial traffic congestion in the capital and providing an
improved, faster, comfortable and environment-friendly means of public transportation.

The much-hyped first-ever metro rail service in Dhaka is expected to start initial operations from
next year.

With high promises of saving the city dwellers from the menace of traffic congestions, the
construction work of the project is moving on with speed.

Here are each and every detail regarding the project that you may have a desire to know.

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Metro rail fact sheet

 Dhaka Metro Rail Project total cost of Tk 22,000 crore

 Officially known as the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Line-6, metro rail service is expected
to open half of its 20.10 kilometres by the end of 2019

 Once completed, the service would carry 60,000 passengers/hour

 20km Metro Rail route will be constructed from Uttara to Bangladesh Bank having 16
stops

 The project will save of Tk 200 billion/ year, equivalent to 1.5% gross domestic
production (GDP) and 17% of the total tax revenue

 It will significantly reduce travel time from one end to the other to 36 minutes from at
least two hours

 The Japan government through Jica will provide Tk 16,600 crores of the total project cost
of Tk 22,000 crore ($2.5 billion) as loan at 0.01% interest rate. The rest will have to be
managed by the government

 Nippon Koei Ltd of Japan is leading the consortium of consultants with partners Nippon
Koei India Ltd, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd, Mott MacDonald Ltd India, Mott
MacDonald Ltd UK and Development Design Consultants Ltd Bangladesh

 The consortium has prepared metro's detailed design, supervised construction work and
helped manage Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development Project, the official name of the
metro scheme, with Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA) as its
implementing agency

 The metro rail will have 16 stations at Uttara, Mirpur, Rokeya Sarani, Khamarbari,
Farmgate, Sonargaon Hotel, Shahbagh, Doel Chattar and on Topkhana Road.

 The 12km track of the first part stretches from north Uttara to Agargaon.

 According to Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), 14 trains would operate

every three minutes and carry 60,000 passengers every hour in both directions.

 The estimated time to travel the 20km distance, from north end of Uttara to Motijheel, is
35 minutes. The trains would have six cars each, all air conditioned.

 The government has allocated Tk 3,425.83 crore for the project in 2018 fiscal year, which
is about 64 percent of the amount it was supposed to foot.

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  The second phase, which will be from Agargaon to Motijheel, will be complete by
December 2020. The service will start with six trains and once the second phase is
completed 24 trains will be sent out. The trains will be from Mitsubishi.

 The metro rail will have noise barriers and vibration-free tracks and thus be environment-
friendly. the cars would be made of stainless steel and aluminium alloy,

 The project is being implemented by government-owned Dhaka Mass Transit Company

Ltd while Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority is supervising.

Project timeline

 In December 2012, the Executive Committee on National Economic Council approves

the Metro Rail scheme.

 In February 2013, Jica signs the loan agreement with Bangladesh.

 On November 19, 2013, Md Aftabuddin Talukder, executive director of DTCA and

Yoshiko Tsunoda, chairman of Nippon Koei Ltd, sign the consultancy deal in Dhaka.

 The $2.7b metro rail project got a shot in the arm upon receiving Japanese funding in
February 2014.

 Road Transport and Bridge Minister Obaidul Quader placed the Metro Rail Bill 2014 on
November 30, 2014 at the parliament in a bid to provide fast and improved public
transportation in Dhaka and ease traffic congestion in the capital.

 The first tender for pre-qualification to procure 24 locomotives, 144 coaches and
equipment for the depot was floated early January 2015.

 On March 27, 2015, the government signed a contract with Japanese Tokyu Construction
Company to develop the Metro Rail depot.

 Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on June 26, 2016 inaugurated the construction work on the
much-hyped first-ever metro rail service in the capital. Through the inauguration of the
construction work, a formal commencement of ground development for a depot began
today. The depot is the foremost component to be in place for building the metro rail
service system, as metro trains will be launched on the elevated lines from the depot.

 The prime minister inaugurated the construction work from Bangabandhu International
Conference Centre in the capital.

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  The project has been delayed by at least six months because of the terrorist attack in
Gulshan in July 2016 that claimed the lives of seven Japanese nationals involved with the
project.

 Authorities of Dhaka's maiden metro rail project on May 3, 2017, signed three contracts
with two companies for the civil construction work at the Uttara depot and building
elevated rail viaducts from north Uttara to Agargaon. According to one of the contracts
signed, a joint venture of Italian-Thai Development Public Company and Sinohydro
Corporation is going to do the Tk 1,595 crore civil constructions at the metro rail depot,

 The metro authorities signed the other two contracts (package-3 and -4) with Ital-Thai.
The contracts worth Tk 4,230 crore were for the construction of 10km-long elevated
viaducts and nine stations between north Uttara to Agargaon.

 The authorities gave the work order to the contractors on August 1, 2017.

 Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on August 2, 2017 inaugurated
construction of the first part of the elevated railway (viaduct) and nine stations of the
country's much talked-about maiden metro rail in the capital. This is the visible beginning
of physical construction of the elevated rail tracks and stations

 On September 13, 2017, three more agreements with Chinese and Thai firms on the
country's first-ever metro rail project were signed. Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited
(DMTCL), a state-owned enterprise founded to implement the metro rail lines across the
Dhaka city, signed the separate contract packages (CPs) including CP-2, CP-3 and CP-4
worth over Tk 58.26 billion ($719 million) with the firms, Italian-Thai Development
Public Company Limited, a Thailand-based construction firm, and Chinese state-owned
Sinohydro Corporation Limited.

 On April 30, 2018, Dhaka Mass Transit Company Ltd today signed contracts with two
joint-venture companies for package-5 and package-6 of MRT Line-6 known as Metro
Rail. Dhaka Mass Transit Company signed contract for Package-5 with Takken
Corporation, Abdul Monem Ltd and Abenikko JV for Tk 1,855 crore. And for Tk 2,332
crore, it inked a deal with Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Co Ltd JV Package-6.

Why is metro rail construction costlier in Bangladesh?

As an easy and comfortable transport system metro rail service is quite popular in many cities
around the world. Bangladesh is building first ever 20.1 kilometre metro rail project between
Uttara and Motijheel in Dhaka with the capacity of carrying 60,000 passengers each hour.
However, the construction cost of the metro rail (MRT line-6) in Dhaka is more than double
comparing to neighboring Indian cities like Delhi or Mumbai.

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The Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Company Limited (DMTCL), a state-run entity implementing the
metro rail project, has recently conducted a study on ‘cost of constructing metro rail in India
versus Dhaka’. The study reveals that the construction cost in Bangladesh is higher than India.
On an average, per kilometre metro rail construction cost in India is $50-60 million, however
Bangladesh is building the first metro rail project at a cost of $135 million per kilometre.

Bangladesh is constructing 20.1km long metro rail at a cost of $2.7 billion or Tk22,000 crore,
said the DMTCL report. According to the report, construction of the second phase of the 72km
long metro rail in the Indian city of Banglalore started in 2014. The project is costing $4.7 billion
that means $65.3 million per km. It has 13.79km underground road for which there will have 12
underground stations among 61 stations. Underground metro rail construction cost is generally
three times higher than the elevated metro rail. The project is to be completed this year. In
another Indian city of Jaipur, a 12km long metro rail was completed in 2014 at a cost of $500
million that means per kilometre cost was only $41.7 million. This metro rail has also 2.78 km
underground part along with three underground stations out of 11 stations.
The second phase of the project started in 2016. The 24km long project will have 6km
underground along with five stations. There will have a total 20 stations. The cost of the project
is only $1.02 billion while per km cost is $42.5 million. The project will be inaugurated in 2021.
Similarly, the per km construction cost of Chennai metro rail is $55.5 million. Launched last
year, most part of the metro rail is underground. “It is true that construction cost of metro rail is
lower in India than Bangladesh. We need to conduct more study on finding ways to reduce the
cost,”.

“But the project aspect of the two countries is different. India is already quite experienced in this
sector as they have completed several metro rail projects in different states,.

The metro rail project is being constructed under the financial assistance of Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA). Of the total cost JICA will provide 75 percent and the rest will be
met by the government of Bangladesh. JICA provided loan at 0.01 percent interest payable
within 40 years, including a 10-year grace period.

The Italian-Thai Development Public Company Ltd, a Thai-based company and Chinese
Company- Synohydro Corporation Ltd are constructing the metro rail under an agreement with
the DMTCL.

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Environmental and Social Issue

 It is estimated that the project CO2 emission reduction is 170000t.p.a(2021) to

499000t.p.a(2050)
 Social impacts on local transport providers due to competitive nature of the Metro is
unlikely
 Traffic congestion will be offset through designation of alternative routes. Some
compensation may be paid in pacific instances related to disturbance that affects
livelihood, temporary relocation out of the line of work
 Social impacts are minimized by relocating street-side vendors to predefined locations so
their occupation can be continued

Challenges of Dhaka Metro Rail project

In a recent statement, the country director of Asian Development Bank stressed the need to
complete mega projects like the metro rail on time because, ultimately, it is the tax-payers who
have to pay back the money taken as loan. Bangladesh has had success in securing finance for
multi-billion-dollar projects like the metro rail, but it has had a less than successful track record
of keeping projects on track for timely completion. The fallout is obvious. Every time we
experience a delay in completion deadlines, the budget has to be revised upwards and the
delayed completion of projects, which in our case has been years in the making sometimes,
defeats the whole purpose of having undertaken a project in the first place.

While the metro rail was dogged with delays for various reasons, it is now on track. The
implementing agency will have to be careful about how it will spend the estimated USD 3.06
billion till 2030 because it has been our experience that the red-tape culture in our country has a
debilitating effect on the making of decisions, and the implementation of those decisions. These
procedural delays inevitably lay the grounds for our failure to complete projects on time.

We need to learn from our mistakes in the past and put in checks-and-balances that will enable
us to keep the project both afloat and on track for completion within the allocated budget. Given
that this is public money being spent for improving urban public transport, the sooner the project
is finished, the faster it will be possible for thousands of people to travel without being stuck in
hours of gridlock.

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Conclusion

Once implemented, all five metro rail systems, otherwise known as the Mass Rapid Transit
(MRT), will partially help resolve the capital city's horrendous traffic problem and provide an
urban transport service that is modern, comfortable and time-bound.
While completion of the entirety of the maiden metro is expected by the end of 2020, the other
four metro rail systems are targeted in second and third phases by the year 2035, according to
recommendations in the Revised Strategic Transport Plan (RSTP).

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Reference:
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhaka_Metro_Rail
 https://www.thedailystar.net/country/dhaka-metro-rail-project-in-
bangladesh-fact-box-all-you-need-to-know-about-this-1569868
 https://www.thedailystar.net/tags/dhaka-metro-rail-project
 https://daily-
sun.com/printversion/details/392218/2019/05/14/Metro-rail-
progressing-fast

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