Parliament passes Dhaka Metrorail making insurance mandatory

Parliament has passed the Metrorail Bill-2015 making insurances for the rail and the passengers mandatory.

The maximum penalty for violating the law has been stipulated as 10 years in prison and a fine of Tk 100 million.

The bill was passed by voice vote after Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader placed it before the legislators on Monday.

It was forwarded to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges for scrutiny on Nov 30 last year.

The Cabinet cleared it on Nov 10.

According to the law, Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority will form a committee to fix the fare and appoint inspectors.

Travellers without ticket will have to pay ten times the price of the ticket they did not buy.

There is a provision for 10 years in prison and a penalty of Tk 10 million for transferring licence without permission, and two years in jail and Tk 200,000 fine for disrupting operations.

If someone thwarts the construction and maintenance of metro rail or if a person trespasses in restricted areas, they will be liable for a year in prison and a fine of Tk 500,000.

If someone breaches security of the metro rail, the person will face a jail term of five years and a fine of Tk 5 million, the law further says.

It provides for 10 years in prison and Tk 10 million in fines for someone using fake tickets.

If someone does not maintain technical standards while building the rail or setting up the rolling stock, conducting, arranging maintenance and security, they will be jailed for five years and will be fined Tk 5 million.

The law also has a special provision for land acquisition.

In line with the provision, no one will get compensation for any kind of structure built or being built 'purposefully against public interest' on land that has been acquired or might be acquired for constructing, conducting, maintaining, controlling the metro rail and related work.

The crimes mentioned in the law will be tried by mobile courts, it says.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the project to build the metro rail in 2012.

The under-construction Metrorail Line-6 will go through Mirpur-Farmgate, starting from Uttara and ending at Motijheel. The trip will take less than 40 minutes.

The 16 metro rail stations will be constructed at Uttara (North), Uttara (Centre), Uttara (South), Pallabi, IMT, Mirpur 10, Kaziparha, Taltala, Agargaon, Bijoy Sarani, Farmgate, Sonargaon, National Museum, Doel Chattar, Bangabandhu National Stadium and Bangladesh Bank.

The metro rail will carry 1800 passengers every four minutes, transiting 60,000 people every hour, says the government.

JICA, the agency that coordinates development assistance for the government of Japan, will provide Tk 165.95 billion for the mass transit system. The government will fund the rest.

The government is hoping this project will play a huge role in solving the Dhaka City's traffic congestion and transportation problems.

Minister Obaidul Quader had spoken of plans to start the metro rail service from Uttara Third Phase to Agargaon within 2019.