The long-awaited Metro Rail in capital Dhaka is finally going to be opened to traffic by the year-end, bringing with it much hype and also its own share of challenges. The main challenge is ensuring its security.
Authorities now have planned to form a specialised new police unit, “Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Police" or “MRT Police” to ensure security and safety checks at its every station. The proposal for formation of the new police unit is now awaiting the final approval of the Secretaries' Committee under the Cabinet Division.
READ: Metro Rail’s performance test on Sunday
“The process of forming the MRT Police will start after getting the approval from the committee,” a senior official at the Police Headquarters told UNB.
According to a Revised Strategic Transport Plan (RSTP), Dhaka Mass Transit Development Company Limited (DMTCL) has planned to construct six metro rail routes in Dhaka by 2030, with a total length of 128.74km.
Construction work on the six metro rail lines is underway aiming to complete it by the timeframe. The six metro rail routes will create a128.74km metro rail network, which will have 104 stations -- 53 underground and51 elevated, according to the DMTCL.
The MRT police will ensure the security of the entire metro rails in the future as 5 million passengers will use the metro rail network per day.
During a presentation of Metro rail at Ganobhaban in September 2019, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina underscored the need for the formation of the separate police unit for ensuring the security of the metro rail.
Later, the DMTCL, under the Ministry of Road, Transport, and Bridges Ministry, submitted the proposal to the Police Headquarters in the same month for the formation of the MRT police.
Following the proposal, the Police Headquarters had sent a draft organogram to the Home Ministry’s Public Security Division for forming the new unit. After scrutiny, the division later sent the draft to the Public Administration Ministry, then the Finance Ministry and finally to the Cabinet division.
Contacted, additional DIG (O&M) of Police Headquarters (PHQ), SM Mostak Ahmed told UNB that the draft proposal is now at the Cabinet Division for discussing it at the Secretaries’ Committee for its final approval.
Replying to a question, he said, “Now the draft proposal is at the final stage. Once approved, more time will be needed to complete the formation process of the MRT police unit.”
After the formation of the unit, the MRT police unit will work out a deployment plan after security assessments. “We’ll do everything from our part to ensure the security of the Metro Rail,” Mostak Ahmed said.
