Road transport and bridges ministry adviser to the interim government, Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan, said on Sunday that the government had taken initiative to announce metro rail as an emergency service.
The initiative was taken to ensure safety of the country鈥檚 first-ever electricity-powered elevated and air-conditioned rail system, he said during a visit to the services.
After over a month metro rail services on the 20.1-kilometre-long Uttara-Motijheel route in the capital were resumed on the day as per its usual schedule.
The trains, however, are not stopping at the damaged Mirpur 10 and Kazipara stations.
Following the resumption, passengers were seen thronging the metro rail stations since morning and the crowd remained throughout the day.
Adviser Fouzul Kabir Khan, meanwhile, travelled from the Agargaon station to the secretariat station by a metro train in the morning.
At the secretariat station, he told the reporters that he had given instructions to Road Transport and Highways Division senior secretary Md Ehsanul Haque and Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited managing director MAN Siddique to take necessary steps to announce the metro rail as emergency services and update the services as Key Point Installation.
The adviser said that the Mirpur 10 and Kazipara stations would be repaired very soon and they would seek assistance from the Japan government in this regard.
He called for public opinion against destruction of state properties and more time for checking the injustice, corruption and discrimination in different sectors.
During his visit senior ministry officials were also present.
Earlier, the authorities closed down metro rail services for an indefinite period since July 20 amid the student-led mass uprising.
On July 19, Mirpur-10 and Kazipra stations were vandalised during the protests.
The interim government on August 11 took decision to resume the metro rail services from August 17 but later backtracked on the decision.
Insiders said that the decision was cancelled as DMTCL鈥檚 around 700 employees from Grade-10 to Grade-20 observed a strike from August 6, demanding an end to injustice and discrimination in their jobs.
They joined work on August 20 after the company took decision to hike their salaries.