Metro rail to be declared as a KPI: Adviser
Services resume amid enhanced security
FE REPORT | Monday, 26 August 2024
Metro rail services resumed on Sunday after remaining suspended for 37 days due to damages of a couple of stations at Mirpur during the student-led anti-discrimination movement.
The first train started at 7:10 am from Uttara north station and reached Motijheel without stopping at Mirpur-10 and Kazipara stations which were badly damaged due to attacks.
Road Transport and Bridges Adviser Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan inspected a station and said the metro rail infrastructure is expected to be declared as a Key Point Installation (KPI) of the country.
The interim government has decided to declare it as an emergency service through announcing it a KPI, a state-important facility, he told reporters at the Bangladesh Secretariat station.
He said that necessary measures, including enhanced security, would be ensured to protect it from any unwelcoming event or vandalism, and that no one can disrupt the services.
Mr Khan also pointed out that it is not possible to damage the establishments for those who have agitated (on the streets) for a positive outcome in the whole system, rather it was an act of criminals. "You have their video footage. We'll take appropriate actions against those responsible for this vandalism."
On July 18, during the movement over reforms in the government jobs, the police box at Mirpur-10 was set on fire, forcing the authorities to suspend the movement of metro rail that day.
Metro rail was first supposed to start operation from August 17, but was delayed due to the strike of its workers. However, they joined work from August 20 after being assured of meeting their demands.
"You know, it has done a great injustice. Trying to realise a demand by holding 300,000 passengers hostage is not a good sign," Khan lamented. It's like a "season of demand" is going on in the country, he added.
"Everyone wants discrimination to be eliminated and everyone wants to be freed from deprivation … We'll gradually consider all these," he continued.
The adviser informed that the Japanese ambassador in Dhaka would meet him on Sunday to discuss how Mirpur-10 and Kazipara stations could be opened as soon as possible.
The managing director of the metro rail company has been asked to assess the damage and give a concrete timeline for resumption, he informed.