Dhaka Metro Rail was covered by insurance during the construction, but its operations are not insured, which means the government will not get any compensation for the damage caused to the transport system during recent quota reform protests.
State-owned Sadharan Bima Corporation insures government structures as per the law, but this is not the case for the metro rail, according to Jahangir Shah, the spokesperson and director of the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority, or IDRA.
Officials of the corporation say that important government installations like the Padma Bridge, Karnaphuli Tunnel and Elevated Expressway have been brought under insurance coverage, but not in the case of metro rail.
The corporation's Managing Director Md Harun-Or-Rashid told bdnews24.com, "Metro rail authorities took insurance during the project. But the metro rail operations are not covered by insurance. So, there will be no compensation."
IDRA and Sadharan Bima always insist on insuring government installations and where there is a risk of damage, he said. "But many places in our country are not insured even when there is a risk."
The Insurance Act of 2019 says that Sadharan Bima will undertake all types of non-life insurance for businesses related to government property or any risk or liability related to government property.
Sadharan Bima keeps 50 percent of the coverage with itself and distributes the rest among private insurance firms.
However, there is still no specific law that mandates government property insurance coverage.
Experts believe that any public or private installation, where there is risk, must have insurance protection.
Md Mizanur Rahman, a former chairman of Dhaka University's marketing department, said metro rail operations should have been covered by insurance since there is a risk of damage to the establishment.
During a complete shutdown programme called by students protesting for reforms to quotas in government jobs, the police box under the Mirpur-10 footbridge and metro rail line was set on fire on Jul 18. A video of a train running through huge fire and thick smoke from the police box went viral on social media.
The next evening, a group of people vandalised Mirpur-10 and Kazipara stations of the metro rail. They smashed everything, including ticket vending machines and passenger entry punch machines at main stations.
Pallabi and Mirpur-11 stations were also attacked that day.
Managing Director of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited MAN Siddique told the media that it will take a year to repair Kazipara and Mirpur-10 stations as many damaged machines are not in repairable condition.
They have to be imported again.
A committee has been formed to assess the damage to the metro rail system during the protests. Although it has not finished its work, officials believe the total loss because of the damage to the metro rail will exceed Tk 5 billion. If insured, the insurance company would have borne the liability of this loss. "Wherever there is public involvement, there is a risk," said SM Ziaul Hoque, CEO of private sector insurance company Chartered Life.
"And where there is risk, the authority must insure. But these things are not done properly in our country. Government installations like the metro rail should be brought under insurance coverage."
DMTCL Managing Director Siddique was asked why metro rail was not insured whereas Padma Bridge and Bangabandhu Tunnel were insured.
"We will talk about this in the future. We will let you know when the situation is normal. Check first if metro rails in other countries are insured," he said. —bdnews24.com
