Photo: Bonik Barta The Kazipara metro rail
station, which has been closed for over two months, is reopening today
(September 20). The station was damaged during the anti-discrimination student
movement, and the initial repair costs amounted to BDT 20.5 lakh. Mohammad
Abdur Rouf, Managing Director of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL),
provided this information at a press conference on Thursday. He also announced
that starting today (September 20), the metro trains will operate seven days a
week.
DMTCL's Managing Director Abdur Rouf said, “At
Kazipara station, several technical components, such as monitors, cameras, and
various electronic devices, were damaged. The glass of the station building and
other areas were also affected. We have completed the repair work by sourcing
all materials locally. BDT 20.5 lakh has been spent to make the station
operational. However, this is being reopened quickly for the sake of the
people. Many tools are still needed here, which will be fixed gradually.
Therefore, costs may increase.”
He said, “At
Kazipara station, four vending machines, six ticket counters, and six automatic
gates were damaged. These have been replaced with units from Mirpur station,
the DMTCL lab, and the exhibition center. Therefore, we did not incur any
additional costs for this.”
Regarding the opening of
the Mirpur 10 metro station, Mohammad Abdur Rouf stated, 'Efforts
are underway to open the station quickly. Additionally, we are working to
determine the extent of damage to each item at that station. This may take
another seven to eight days. Once we receive the report, we will go to tender,
and then we will know the extent of the financial losses.'
Regarding the metro rail
operation on Fridays, the Managing Director of DMTCL stated, “The first
train will leave from Uttara at 3.30 pm every Friday, and the first train from
Motijheel will depart at 3.50 pm. The last train will leave Uttara at 9 pm and
Motijheel at 9.40 pm. Trains will run every 12 minutes on Fridays.”
The metro rail was
closed on the afternoon of July 18 due to vandalism and arson incidents during
the anti-discrimination student movement. The following day, Kazipara and
Mirpur 10 stations of the metro were vandalized and set on fire. Although the metro rail resumed operation on August
25 after being closed for over a month, these two damaged stations were not reopened
until
now. Kazipara station is now being
opened for passenger movement.
