PQ bidding for MRT depot land dev opened

Pre-qualification (PQ) bidding for development of depot land of the Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development (DMRTD) project was opened finally on Wednesday after getting go-ahead from the project's Japanese financier.
Officials said Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) gave its nod on Tuesday to call the tender after the project incorporated all its recommendations.
"After getting the concurrence, we finally invited the international companies to compete for development of the depot land on Wednesday," said Project
Director Mohammad Mofazzel Hossain.
He said the time to call the tender has been taken to incorporate the JICA's recommendations. The PQ bidding will close on June 22.
DMRTD project had to revise schedule of the depot land development work (CP-1) three times, as studies found its soil unfit for erecting different structures and will need specialized kind of soil development work.
Officials said Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) seconded the project's foreign consultants' recommendations to carry liquefaction, dynamic compaction work on the soil. But they have to take mitigation measures as per JICA's recommendations, as this kind of work will also threaten the structures nearby the depot land.
Earlier, the project has set target to call the tender in January, but shifted it to March due to inability to prepare tender documents following these changes.
The officials said they have identified three structures close to the depot land, of which one is a three-storied college building. The issue of compensation and security will be incorporated in the related studies.
Since the government took the initiative to launch MRT in the city's busy Uttara-Motijheel corridor, the project faced hard times to get required land for the depot in the congested city due to non-cooperation by different organisations. RAJUK finally handed over 54 acres of land from its Uttara 3rd phase area, following directives from high-ups.
Meanwhile, DMRTD project has received applications from eight companies of Japan, India, China, France and Italy for the first PQ bidding for buying 24 sets of trains for the MRT line-6. The companies are - Hitachi-Mitsue consortium, Kawasaki-Mitsubishi consortium and Nippon Psych-SC JV of Japan, Norinco Group and Beijing Subway of China, Ansaldo STS of Italy, Alstom of France, and Bombardier of India.
The project called the tender on January 31 for short-listing the companies, and closed it on April 21, extending the first deadline.
The second tender of the project was called on March 17 to introduce electrical and mechanical system for the MRT line-6, under which two big sub stations and seven small stations will be constructed to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the metro rail service.
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