Metrorail construction also hampered: Prime Minister

He made this call regarding Metrorail in the regular meeting of the Cabinet held at the Prime Minister's office. He appealed to the passengers to keep the metro rail clean and not to throw any garbage here and there, instead everyone should use the designated waste area in the train.

The Prime Minister also said that this metro rail has been developed using digital system. It will continue. So, use it following the rules and guidelines. Everyone should keep this in mind while using it.

In the meeting, the Prime Minister also informed the Cabinet members and concerned officials about the challenges that have arisen before the implementation of the metro rail project, especially in the Sangsad Bhavan area and Dhaka University.

Also read: Prime Minister wants greater investment from Turkey in Bangladesh

He said, “Challenges arise when we go for any work (development projects). We met all the challenges and completed all those projects.”

Regarding the metro rail project, the chief minister said, "In the feasibility study, the metro rail route was initially laid through Vijay Sarni, which I strongly objected to."

“Then we will have to close the Tejgaon airport which has a 9,000 feet long runway. I didn't want an airport to ever go to waste," he recalled.

In this context, Sheikh Hasina mentioned that all the relief materials came through this airport as the Kurmitola airport was flooded in the 1998 flood. Moreover, air travel is sometimes used here due to dense fog, seven planes were forced to divert to Kolkata yesterday as well. But the Tejgaon airport never gets flooded and the amount of fog here is very low. But many wise men have also proposed to close this airport and build housing here.

He also said that when the government designed the planetarium, its dome was supposed to be much higher.

He added “We have reduced that height. If the height exceeds 60-70 feet, it will fall into the air funnel (of Tejgaon airport). But the place of flight must be kept."

Also read : Sedition charges against former Daksu VP Noor

The Prime Minister told the meeting that if the old alignment was implemented, the government would have had to demolish 22 buildings and that is why "I have proposed a new route using the farm house area. Although our Antel class had strong objections that the Parliament building would be destroyed, the date plantations would be destroyed. Besides, this date palm garden was planted by us.

He said that when Louis Kahn came up with the design, he saw that the two fields next to the parliament building did not fit into this design. Moreover, this garden will not be wasted.

He also said that he has extended the metro rail route from Bangladesh Bank to Kamalapur station.

"At that time, it was proposed to demolish the Kamalapur railway station for the Metrorail for its turning and landing area," he added.

The Prime Minister said he told the concerned officials that it would not be wise to demolish such a big station and build another one.

“I asked them, how can we do this keeping the station intact, if necessary the metro rail will pass over the station or find another place to take its turn. Now, it is implementing that way," he said.

Also read : Bangladeshi ambassadors instructed to be cautious about ban

Sheikh Hasina also mentioned that students have blocked the metro rail project in Dhaka University area saying it will destroy the academic environment of the university.

"I assured them that they will not face any trouble because of the metro rail, as it will pass through a corner of the university area without any noise, it will run automatically," he said.

It was halted after the Holy Artisan (Bakery) attack in which seven Japanese consultants involved in the project were killed, he said, noting that at that time all the Japanese had returned to their homelands, and he himself expressed his condolences to the then Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, and his During the trip to Japan, the seven met with family members of the slain Japanese officials. His government has done everything it could to appease them, and it is in view of this that the Japanese government considers his request.

He recalled that it was closed again during the Covid-19 pandemic. 'But at that time, our engineers using video conferencing system together took the work forward slowly,' he added.

Also read : Recommendation to increase electricity price by 1 taka 21 paisa per unit

Mentioning that there were many criticisms about the Padma Bridge, he said, "Who will build this bridge and where will the money come from? I want to tell those who said that 400 crore rupees have already been raised in a few months." In fact, it is the nature of some of us to block every task.

As Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was killed by an assassin, he remembered him with deep respect and thanked the Japanese government, ministries and local people for implementing the Metrorail.

He said, today he sees great enthusiasm and excitement among people about this metro rail.

The Prime Minister said that for the convenience of passengers and pilgrims, the government is constructing an underpass with modern facilities to go from the airport railway station to the airport. He also said that we will provide all modern facilities for hassle-free movement in the underpass.