Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) has raised objection to the proposed metro rail route through Bijoy Sarani reasoning that its height would hinder air traffic.
It has proposed to move the route alignment to Khamar Bari at Farmgate.
On the other hand, Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), the lone financer of the metro rail project, has been persistently insisting on the route alignment through Bijoy Sarani.
Jica objected to bringing any changes to the proposed design of the project and in that case, they will not finance metro rail, said an official of the communications ministry.
Against such backdrop, the communications ministry yesterday sat with Finance Minister AMA Muhith to settle the issue. Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain, other high officials and representatives of BAF and Bangladesh Army attended the meeting.
After the meeting, Muhith told reporters that they would try to settle the matter talking to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and finalise the design of the project within two to three months. Jica wants to start the feasibility study by December, he added.
According to the proposed plan, the height of metro rail at Bijoy Sarani is 19 metres, which as per the BAF objection should not be more than 11 metres.
The communications ministry told the meeting that the height at that point can be reduced to 16 metres and that the metro rail can be suspended for some hours to avoid trouble to air traffic after it comes into operation.
In July this year, the communications minister had a wrap up meeting with a Jica mission about financing the project. Jica agreed to provide $ 1.7 billion as soft loan to implement the project.
The proposed 21.5-kilometre metro rail from Pallabi to Sayedabad is expected to help ease traffic jam in Dhaka city to a great extent. The cabinet in March approved the proposal for setting up the metro rail.
Source : The Daily Star
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