The Road Transport and Highways Division has ruled out any effect of taking alignment of metro rail through the Dhaka University (DU) campus on existing buildings and environment.
The comment of the Division came on Sunday after a group of students of the DU staged protest in front of Teacher-Student Centre on Thursday demanding rerouting of mass rapid transit line-6 (MRT).
Also protesting in the social media, students along with some DU teachers claimed that the metro rail's sound and vibration would hamper educational environment of the university as there is a number of important institutes located in one side of the corridor.
The MRT-6 route will cross the DU campus through Shahbagh, TSC crossing, Bangla Academy, Doyel Chattar and Curzon Hall to go to Motijheel.
Commenting on the protest, official sources of the Dhaka MRT Development (DMRTD) Project Office said necessary measures have already been taken to lessen sound pollution and vibration in and around the MRT corridor including the DU area.
As per recommendation of the studies done in 2011, 2013 and 2015, measures like mass spring system (MSS), ballast-less track and noise barrier will be introduced to keep sound pollution and vibration under control.
They said the studies identified 20 such buildings including hospitals, mosques and educational institutions along the 20km MRT-6 corridor.
However, green activists including commentators in the social media came up with mixed reaction on metro rail through the DU.
Architect Iqbal Habib of the Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (BAPA) said in the present context, there is no alternative to mass transit system for the Dhaka city and its crossing through the DU campus was considered to serve a sizeable number of students of the educational institutions located in and around the DU.
He, however, said this kind of protest in the campus could be averted if route selection of the metro rail would have been finalised through public hearing and sharing of necessary information.
Member-secretary of the BAPA's urban development and governance, Iqbal also called for taking careful measures for projecting important historical structures on the corridor by ensuring proper visibility of those.
In a press note, the DMRTD project referred to the Environment Impact Assessment, Historical and Archeological Importance Survey and Traffic Survey and said sound pollution level of the MRT is lower than that found on the DU campus in 2015.
The EIA detected 67.5 decimal, 70.0 decimal and 68.2 decimal level of sound at Central Library, TSC and Doyel Chattar points respectively which would be 61.9 decimal, 61.1 decimal and 56.5 decimal respectively for operating MRT.
After the installation of the MRT, sound level will reach 72 decimal combining existing sound and metro rail operating sound, it added.
Through MSS, ballast-less track and noise barrier, sound level in the area would drop by five decimal which means it will be equal to the existing level.
It said the government has finalised the MRT route after consultations with professors, deans and faculties during different meetings since 2011 to facilitate students of different educational institutions including Dhaka University, Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Badrunnessa Government Women College and Eden College.
It also said necessary information and development of the project are posted in the official website www.dmtc.org.bd.
smunima@yahoo.com
Adverse impact of MRT line on DU campus ruled out
Munima Sultana | Published: January 12, 2016 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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