The government’s announcement to construct two monorail corridors across the capital by 2030 -- with BUET consultants completing pre-feasibility studies and detailed designs underway -- is certainly a welcome step in expanding Dhaka's public transportation network.
Designed to complement the existing Metro Rail and address last-mile connectivity in high-density bottlenecks, this appears a sensible undertaking to offer a viable, eco-friendly solution to chronic traffic gridlock that only seems to worsen in the capital.
Expanding mass transit has long been an absolute necessity for economic survival in the city, and it is good to see plans being developed to address it.
Yet, public enthusiasm for new transit infrastructure is inevitably tempered by a history of systemic mismanagement, and this apprehension is not without reason.
For decades, Bangladesh’s megaprojects have been plagued by a predictable blueprint of failure: Severe deadline extensions, rampant cost overruns, poor coordination, and opaque procurement processes that balloon into crushing public debts.
When major infrastructure ventures consistently double their original budgets, often as a result of incompetence, disregard, or simple administrative inertia, it is taxpayers who carry that unfair financial burden.
The proposed monorail initiative, and indeed subsequent infrastructure projects, must break decisively from this legacy of inefficiency. If this project suffers the same bureaucratic bloat and inflated expenditures that have tarnished past endeavours, its primary rationale will be completely compromised.
We must thus establish uncompromising governance from day one. The government must set firm, non-negotiable cost caps and strict timeline milestones, holding contractors and public officials accountable for any unjustified delays or financial leakages.
Building modern transit for Dhaka is a crucial step forward and has no alternative. However, it is doing it on time, within budget, and free of corruption that must be ensured.
