Metro rail Agargaon-Uttara section launch in Dec uncertain for slow pace of work

The much-hyped launch of the Agargaon-Uttara route of Bangladesh’s first metro rail service is being delayed further as the Covid-19 situation goes from bad to worse. The authorities had planned to finish the 12-km stretch of the rail line in Dhaka under the project MRT-6 by December this year, a near-impossible deadline amid the pandemic. Now, those in charge of the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL), say they cannot even set a new date for its completion. According to them, a new deadline for the entire project will be set once work on the Agargaon-Uttara section of the rail line is complete.
Sources at the DMTCL said none of the contractors was able to complete their respective work in time, showing various causes including the pandemic situation for the delay. Thus, contracts under different packages have expired before completing work, forcing the metro rail company to extend the contract period. If the pandemic lingers, uncertainty may further increase. When the government declared general holidays in March last year amid the pandemic, Japanese consultants and staff involved in the project left Bangladesh. Besides foreigners, many local staff and workers also left the project site, as they were unwilling to work in the midst of the pandemic.
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the MRT Line- 6 project in 2012. A loan agreement between Bangladesh’s government and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) was signed in January 2013. In order to plan, conduct surveys, design, finance, construct, maintain and operate metro rails in Dhaka, DMTCL was established on June 3, 2013. The general consultant commenced work in February 2014. The Metro Rail Act was passed in January 2015. The cost of the project was initially estimated at nearly Tk 220 billion. The lion’s share of the funding comes from the JICA.
We want to say that those in charge of the project have the duty to keep the project on track for completion within the allocated budget. Huge public money is being spent on the metro-rail project for improving the capital’s public transport system. The sooner the project is finished the better because delays would run the risk of cost escalation.