Shamsul Haque, a leading transport expert and professor at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, said, “Heavy air pollution and sweltering heat often make Dhaka’s streets feel like a gas chamber, and the metro rail is a big step towards solving the problem.” Might be a step.” Technology (BUET).
Meanwhile, transportation’s share of Bangladesh’s greenhouse gas emissions is slightly less than 10%, and the government has committed to cutting the sector’s emissions by more than 9% by 2030, including through a mass transit system .
AKM Hafizur Rahman, deputy head of the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA), said the mass transit rail system would reduce carbon emissions and reduce noise and air pollution, driving positive environmental impacts.
“The metro rail will run on electricity, and a major portion of the lines will be underground, thus reducing pollution on the roads,” he said.
BUET’s Hoke said the railways would indirectly reduce carbon emissions, as fewer vehicles on the roads cut fuel use and emissions related to petrol and diesel.
BUET research found that Bangladesh burns 40% more fuel than needed due to traffic congestion, wasting energy and money.
According to the project’s environmental impact assessment, the first metro rail route is expected to reduce annual emissions of carbon dioxide by the equivalent of 500,000 tonnes through transporting 1.3 million people daily – most of whom would otherwise use cars or buses. do.
Congested, outdated modes of transport not only cause pollution, planet-heating emissions and lost working hours.
Sumi Nafees, a housewife traveling on the metro rail for the first time with her two young children, said women often face sexual harassment in Dhaka’s overcrowded buses.
“It seems that metro rail is the safest mode for us, while in buses we have to face noisy and crowded environment along with rude behavior by the staff,” he said.