Own Correspondent: Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader has said that the government has taken a plan to build a subway to keep the unbearable misery of the city dwellers free from traffic jams and congestion.

He made the remarks at a seminar on feasibility study for construction of subway in Dhaka city at a hotel in the capital on Wednesday (March 24) morning. The minister was virtually connected from his official residence.

The bridge minister said Japan's Pedico, BCL Associates, KSC and Bates have been jointly hired as consultants for feasibility study under the leadership of Spanish Tipsar for construction of subway in Dhaka city. The consulting firm initially proposed alignment of 11 routes for the subway network in Dhaka. Of which 4 routes are included in the initial design work on priority basis.

The Bangladesh Bridge Authority is set to hold a discussion on the design of the proposed subway system at the Hotel InterContinental

The Bridge Division under the Road Transport and Bridges Ministry plans to develop 11 routes at a cost of $88 billion (approximately Tk747,000 crore). The network of 11 subways will cover about 238km of the city.

The Minister of Road Transport and Bridges hopes that the construction of this project will relocate 4 million people out of about 6 million working people in Dhaka city and the surface of the land will be free from traffic jams and congestion.

A subway network is the most effective solution for traffic movement around the world, but there is a different reality in Dhaka. It is a very chaotic and unplanned city. However, experts say, high cost and unplanned infrastructure make digging underground tunnels near impossible. They believe the plan is over-ambitious and unrealistic considering the logistics involved. They further suggest on conducting extensive research before starting construction of any underground structures.