Patience over metro digging

The work on the elevated metro railway in the capital is going on in full swing. Upon its successful implementation, people from the far end of Uttara will be able to reach Motijheel in less than 40 minutes. The task of building such a railway is massive. Still it involves much less digging work than that required for an underground subway. But as days wear on, piles of machinery, heavy metal bars etc and trenches and dug-out soil are emerging as hazardous. They are creating obstruction to movement of both traffic and pedestrians. But the city-dwellers should have patience. A lot of people continue to grumble. Perhaps they become oblivious for a given time to the great convenience they will enjoy once the metro rail is put to operation. Days are not that far.

People in neighbouring Kolkata in West Bengal, India, underwent the similar ordeals when the work on their 'Patal Rail' (subway) was in progress. That was back in the mid-1980s. The rail's construction phase saw the whole Kolkata turn virtually into city of scores of large mounds of dug-out muddy earth. The people there watched everything with curiosity. They did not hesitate to bear with the temporary inconveniences. Now thousands of Kolkata people commute daily between far-off places in the city without hassle. The tension over reaching somewhere on time is gone.

Those days are set to arrive in Dhaka, too. We should wait with patience. The authorities should also ensure that no mess-up delays the completion of the long-awaited metro rail in the city.

Rajeeb Ahsan

Tongi, Dhaka