The Bangladesh Railway has decided to construct over 1,400 overpasses at railway crossings across the country with an aim to avoid frequent accidents that claim the lives of hundreds of people every year.
The information was disclosed before the parliamentary standing committee meeting held in the parliament secretariat yesterday.
The watchdog body, had earlier, at a meeting recommended the railway ministry to take immediate steps to construct overpasses at level crossings to avoid accidents.
There are 2,541 level crossings in the country and of them 1,128 are illegal.
“High officials of the railway ministry informed the meeting that the ministry has decided to construct nearly 1,400 overpasses in line with the recommendations made before the committee earlier,” said ABM Fazle Karim Chowdhury, standing committee chairman of the railway ministry, after the meeting.
He said the committee made the recommendations in August this year as the accidents at level crossings have taken an alarming turn.
“The Local Government Engineering Department that was supposed to maintain and monitor the illegal crossings, has failed to do so,” he said.
He said the railway ministry would soon start demolishing illegally-built establishments along rail tracks and on railway land.
Railway Minister M Mujibul Hoque and members – Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, Md Ali Azgar, Yasin Ali, Fatema Begum and Begum Zohra Rani attended the meeting.
