The Dhaka North City Corporation is planning to colour code the buses based on the routes they take.
The capital’s bus routes will clustered into five sections and there will be a colour identifying the buses in each cluster, DNCC Mayor Annisul Huq said yesterday at the eighth board meeting of the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA).
The decision will come into effect within one and a half years, he said.
“A total of 3,000 buses will be replaced and 4,500 old buses will be removed from the city during this time,” the mayor added.
Currently almost 4,500 buses operate in the city’s 194 routes, creating an indisciplined situation, Mayor Huq said.
“Though the bus owners have a large syndicate, they have agreed to operate the buses under a system. If we properly launch the system, illegal competition might be removed. The drivers will also drive carefully, which will help reduce accident,” he added.
Mouchak flyover will open on March 30
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader, who presided over the meeting, said, “A part of the Moghbazar-Mouchak flyover will open on March 30.”
Even though the construction work on the project remains incomplete, the 2.11 kilometre stretch from Satrasta intersection to Ramna police station – a fifth of the total length of the flyover – will be opened for transportation, he said.
The flyover has seen a number of delays and cost overruns.
It was estimated to cost Tk343.70 crore when the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council approved it in 2011. The cost then more than doubled to Tk772.77 crore and then skyrocketed to Tk1,218.89 crore.
Although the flyover was expected to be complete by July 2014, it is now scheduled to be ready by December 2016.
Quader said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would inaugurate the flyover.
“The total length of the flyover is about 10km and it will be completed by December. But the part from Satrasta to Ramna will be opened first to reduce public suffering,” he said.
Rajuk to build new flyover
The DTCA has approved the construction of a new flyover which will connect Dhaka’s Motijheel with Keraniganj.
The road transport minister said, “Rajuk will construct the flyover from Arambagh (Notre Dame College) to Kadamtali intersection in Keraniganj.”
