PM lays foundation stone of metro rail project

The Taka 21,985.07 crore dream project is scheduled to be completed by 2022. Of the total fund, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will provide Taka 16,594.59 crore, while the rest of Taka 5,390.48 crore will be given by Bangladesh government from its own resources. The government signed a deal with JICA for implementation of the project on February 20 this year. According to the Planning Division, the rail track would be constructed in three phases. The Pallabi-Sonargaon Hotel route (11 kilometres) would be completed by 2019 and the Sonargaon- Bangladesh Bank route (4.4 kilometres) by 2020. The remaining Uttara-Pallabi route (4.7 kilometres) was expected to be completed by 2022. Officials said once the 'Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development Project' was implemented, some 60,000 to 70,000 commuters would be able to travel through the metro rail every hour. It is expected to ease communications with the capital from Gazipur and Uttara .

From the same venue, the Prime Minister inaugurated the construction work of the 20-kilometer Greater Dhaka Sustainable Urban Transport Project popularly known as Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) from Gazipur to Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. The BRT will cost Tk 2,039 crore. Of the amount, donors are providing Tk 1,650 crore, while the government will provide the rest. Sheikh Hasina laid the foundation stone of the construction work of the 70-kilometer four lane highway from Gazipur to Elenga in Tangail via Chandra. Tk 2,788 crore will be spent for the project. Of the money, donors will provide Tk 1,843 crore while the government will give the rest.
She laid the foundation stone of three new four-lane bridges along the existing Kanchpur, Meghna and Meghna-Gumti bridges on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway with an estimated cost of Tk 8,487 crore. Of it, Japan will provide Tk 6,429 crore as soft loan. A deal of Tk 2,315 has already been signed with Japan International Cooperation Agency to prepare the designs and carry out the supervision works of the new bridges. An international consultant will be appointed next month to prepare the designs for new bridges, construction of which will begin at the end of next year.
Sheikh Hasina also inaugurated Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Safari Park, a fire service and civil defence station at Mawna Chourasta, an upazila complex building in Sreepur, a 52-megawatt dual fuel power plant in Sadar upazila, Shaheed Ahsanullah Master Stadium in Tongi and repair and beautification work of Rajbari Ground, Tongi 250-bed general hospital, development work of Bhawal Mirzapur GC Road and two government primary schools and 315-metre PC Girder Bridge over the Shitalakhya River on Barma- Singhasree Road.

The Prime Minister laid the foundation stones of a 150-MW dual fuel power plant, the Gazipur 500-bed General Hospital, a trauma centre at Meghdubi in Pubail, a nursing training institute at Chhota Dewra and Upazila ICT Training and Resource Centre for Education.