Urban experts have said the decision to implement the costly subway project in Dhaka should be more pragmatic, given the country's socio-economic status.
There is no strategic direction for such subway in the existing strategic transport plan or detailed area plan or master plan for Dhaka city, they added.
During this pandemic, priority should be given to social benefits like education and health to ensure universal accessibility instead of giving priority to infrastructure development, the experts asserted.
They rather suggested bringing all citizens under social protection.
These views came during a virtual press meet styled 'Contemporary Development Plan and Management' hosted by Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP) on Thursday.
A proposal has been prepared and a feasibility study completed to construct a 258-kilometre subway at a cost of $280 million per kilometre, the experts stated.
BIP general secretary Prof Adil Mohammed Khan presented a keynote paper at the programme.
He said the feasibility study by bridges division on the subway mainly focused on technical aspects.
According to Prof Khan, the study lacks adequate analysis.
Very few subways were built in some high-income countries as those structures are highly expensive, he observed.
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