Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader yesterday said the government would not make changes to the proposed metro rail route which goes through the Dhaka University.
“There’s no possibility to change the route. It was chalked out after discussions with the Dhaka University authorities,” he said at a programme in Dhaka.
DU students have been protesting against the proposed route claiming it would change the face of the campus and disrupt their studies.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last week said the protesters knew little about metro rail and feared that any change in the plan could jeopardise the whole project.
According to project officials the metro rails would transport some 60,000 passengers an hour and that it would take less than 40 minutes to travel to Motijheel from Uttara.
Replying to a question on the progress of the much-coveted project, the minister said the main construction work would start in March.
Last week, he said the trains would move silently inside the campus so as not to disrupt academic atmosphere. “It won’t create much noise,” he reiterated yesterday.
He said the project would benefit the university. “The trains will have a stoppage at the university. It will immensely benefit DU students, teachers, staffs and others.”
