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DMTCL cuts MRT-5 South cost to $4.9b
It requests ADB to give $300m more
Munima Sultana
Published :
Feb 26, 2023 09:28 PM
Updated :
Feb 26, 2023 09:29 PM
The Dhaka metro rail company has revised the estimated cost of MRT-5 South to US$ 4.9 billion from the previous $5.5 billion, requesting the project's financier to increase its funding for the technical mega project for avoiding co-financing-related complications.
Road Transport and Highways Division Secretary A B M Amin Ullah Nuri and Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) Managing Director M A N Siddique formally requested the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to raise its funding during a meeting.
The event was organised to share final draft of the MRT-5 South detailed design with stakeholders at a city hotel on Sunday.
Project Director (PD) Mohammad Abdul Wahab said the financier has assured of providing $2.5 billion for the metro rail project, and taken time until March regarding the request for additional $300 million fund.
"The DMTCL is implementing three MRT lines with a single development partner. So we will be comfortable with the lone partner for the MRT-5 South," he told the FE after the meeting.
Sources said the project office earlier tried to find a co-financier after the ADB refused to provide significant part of $5.5 billion project cost. It was estimated at the feasibility study stage, completed in last June, proposing the 17.2-kilometre MRT route from Gabtoli to Dasherkandi via Shyamoli.
The PD said $2.1 billion fund will be provided under the government arrangement - mostly for acquiring land. But the detailed design is still not finalised, and the project cost may be reduced further.
The DMTCL organised the second stakeholders' meeting after its consultant ESO JV Consortium almost finalised the detailed design, identifying 54 stakeholders - to be addressed for implementing the MRT-5 South project.
Team Leader Henning Schwarz said total length of the route will be 17.2 kilometres, including 13.1 km underground, having 11 stations. The elevated part of the line will be 4.1 km with four stations.
Gabtoli, Technical, Kallyanpur, Shyamoli, College Gate, Asad Gate, Russel Square, Karwan Bazar, Hatirjheel, Tejgaon and Aftabnagar stations will be underground, while Aftabnagar Central, Aftabnagar East, Nasirabad and Dasherkandi stations will be elevated.
Land acquisition will be needed for establishing depot on 47.85 hectares of land and exit points of stations. Travel from Gabtoli to Dasherkandi will require 30 minutes, and the MRT's daily ridership will likely to be 1.0 million in 2041 after starting its operation in 2031.
The team leader also said the track will have interlinks with MRT-1, MRT-5 North, MRT-6, MRT-2, BRT-7 and Bangladesh Railway's circular railway.
The DMTCL MD chaired the meeting, attended by the RTHD secretary as the chief guest and ADB Deputy Country Director Jiangbo Ning as the special guest.
The secretary hoped that the stakeholders' meeting will help reduce many complications of the project, as implementation of any big project is always a challenge.
The ADB deputy country director highlighted the agency's funding guidelines and policies, and said it is mandatory to abide by all these to get its funding.
He added that the MRT-5 South is the ADB's first financing in a metro rail project.
The DMTCL MD said all the under-implementation MRTs are supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), adding that co-financing is difficult in any project due to the financers' different guidelines.
The project will have two transit-oriented developments (TOD) for increasing the DMTCL's earning. The planned TOD at Dasherkandi will be developed over water, which will be the first of its kind, as the Dasherkandi depot will be in low-lying area.
Mr Siddique also said the design will be finalised by March by incorporating opinions from the stakeholders, who were present in the meeting, as well as from those who will later share opinions through email or sending documents.
The MRT-5 South project has 54 stakeholders. The meeting on Sunday was, however, represented by only 15, including the DMTCL's three MRT project offices.
smunima@yahoo.com
DMTCL cuts MRT-5 South cost to $4.9b
The Dhaka metro rail company has revised the estimated cost of MRT-5 South to US$ 4.9 billion from the previous $5.5 billion, requesting the project's financier to increase its funding for the technical mega project for avoiding co-financing-related complications. Road Transport and Highways Divis
