Dhaka to Gazipur BRT Line: Arson chars 22 escalators, project may get delayed

The launch of a dedicated bus service between Dhaka-Gazipur corridor may get delayed further as miscreants have damaged 22 escalators to be used for elevated stations on the route during the recent unrest.

After changing several deadlines, the authority planned to start trial run of the service on Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Line-3 from January next year.

"But the trial run is likely to be delayed," Md Moniruzzaman, managing director of Dhaka BRT Company, told The Daily Star yesterday.

Even if they can start trial in January, all the stations will not be ready by then due to the escalators being damaged, Ilias Shah and Mohirul Islam, two project directors, told this correspondent yesterday.

Taken in November 2012, the project, formally known as Greater Dhaka Sustainable Urban Transport Project, was originally planned to be completed by December 2016 at a cost of Tk 2,037.9 crore.

But long delay was caused by issues relating to land acquisition, relocation of utility services, design changes, contractors running out of money, and the pandemic. Moreover, physical work was suspended twice.

As a result, the total project cost is now estimated at Tk 4,268.3 crore and the deadline is December 2024.

The 20.5-kilometre bus corridor, the country's first dedicated rapid bus service, will allow people to reach Dhaka from Gazipur in 35-40 minutes, which now takes between 1.5 and two-three hours. There will be 25 stations.

Moniruzzaman said all construction works under the project is supposed to be completed within September and they have already floated the tender to procure buses for the dedicated bus service.

According to the progress report, 94.61 percent of physical work of the project was completed by May this year.

He, however, said at least 22 new escalators, which were kept on the project site, were burnt down either fully or partially during the unrest centring the quota protests.

Cost of each escalator is around Tk 50 lakh to Tk 60 lakh, he said.

He said they were now checking whether these escalators can be repaired or they have to be replaced.

"All these escalators were imported from abroad. It would take a good amount of time if these need to be imported again," he said.

Ilias Shah, project director (Roads and Highways Department part), said out 57 escalators, 16 were burnt down partially or fully.

Besides, different equipment at several under-construction stations from Uttara's Azampur area to Gazipur's Board Bazar area were either vandalised or burnt down, he said.

Now, they will have five months to either repair or replace the escalators before launching the trial run, he said.

If they cannot repair or replace the escalators by this time, they will have to ration the rest of the escalators among 19 stations that fall under their (RHD) project area, he told The Daily Star yesterday.

Mohirul Islam, project director (Bangladesh Bridge Authority part), said six out of their 12 escalators for six stations under their (BBA) project area were affected, but they could not ascertain whether those have to be repaired or replaced.

If those escalators are found to be unusable, then all the stations may not be opened during the trial run, he told this correspondent yesterday.