Metro rail should also be planned for Karnaphuli south bank: Info minister
In line with the prime minister’s directive, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said on Sunday said the Road Transportation and Highways Division would undertake a project worth TK77 crore to this end
To cope with the expanding Chattogram city, there should be a plan to build metro rail on the south bank of the Karnaphuli River too, said Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Tuesday.
He said this while addressing a views-exchange meeting on the feasibility study to prepare a long-term master plan of a planned transportation system and metro rail in the port city and a press briefing at the conference room of the Chattogram Circuit House.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in January this year asked the authorities concerned to build the metro rail from the Shah Amanat International Airport to the Chattogram Railway Station in the port city.
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In line with the prime minister's directive, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said on Sunday said the Road Transportation and Highways Division would undertake a project worth TK77 crore to this end.
A feasibility study would be conducted to prepare a master plan for the planned transportation for the Chattogram city and the surrounding areas along with a mass transit line and metro rail, he added.
Hasan Mahmud, who has been elected a member of the parliament from Chattogram, said the country's second-largest city after Dhaka is the home to 85 lakh people and the number is expected to double in the next 10 years.
He said there is a plan to sit separately with the Chattogram Metropolitan Police for traffic management.
"We will come up with a plan after holding separate meetings with the railways, the Water Supply and Sewerage Authority and the Chattogram Development Authority," the minister added.
Presided over by Chattogram Divisional Commissioner Md Ashraf Uddin and conducted by Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Mominur Rahman, Additional Secretary of the Road Transport and Highways Department Md Abdul Malek presented his opinion at the meeting.
Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) Mayor Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, Chattogram Development Authority Chairman M Zahirul Alam Dobhas, former CCC mayor AJM Nasir Uddin, Chattogram Port Authority Chairman Rear Admiral M Shahjahan, Chattogram University Vice-Chancellor Professor Shireen Akhter, Chattogram University of Engineering and Technology Vice Chancellor Rafiqul Alam and Metropolitan Police Commissioner Saleh Mohammed Tanvir also shared their opinions at the discussion.
