Karachi: Snail-paced work on Red Line BRT project is tormenting commuters as traffic jams on Main University Road have now become a daily life feature for hundreds of thousands of citizens, commuters and drivers using this busy artery, said Pasban Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Altaf Shakoor on Sunday.
Altaf Shakoor said that the project is being built with a foreign loan from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and its original completion date was December 31, 2025. Now they say that this project is likely to be completed by December 2026 but the slow pace of work shows that it would likely drag a few more years. He said our government is in the habit of delaying uplift projects to increase their costs, as the increased costs also result in increased commissions and kickbacks.
He said the public transport sector in Karachi is in shambles, adding while Lahore is going to become a world class megacity in terms of modern commuting system, Karachi is still a backward city in this regard. He said both road and rail based public transport systems in Karachi are either neglected or marred with corruption and red tape.
Altaf Shakoor said that for modern urban living, developing urban transport systems is a must. He said though Karachi well deserves an underground rail network but even its decades old surface rail system, Karachi Circular Railway (KCR), is non functional. He said the public transport sector in Karachi is placed at the bottom of the priority list of the Sindh government and the provincial transport department only issues colourful statements instead of focusing on solid progress. He requested the Sindh chief minister to pay a personal visit to the Red Line BRT and issue necessary orders to accelerate the work pace.
He said the Green Line BRT is now handed over to the Sindh government but it's extension to Tower is still a distant dream. He demanded starting work on the much delayed second phase of Green Line BRT and preferably extending it to Keamari. He said interlinking Green and Red Line BRT systems is also a must to facilitate commuters.
Altaf Shakoor said that nearly 200 CNG buses imported by Mayor Niamatullah Khan and Mayor Mustafa Kamal are now parked in a junkyard. They are being rusted and their engines and other parts are being stolen. He demanded that these buses should be repaired and plied on roads. He said billions of rupees from taxpayers' money were used to import these costly buses. He said discarding these new buses is amongst the big financial scandals of Pakistan. He said buses of private transporters run for forty and fifty years, but why these new buses imported by the government were discarded within a few years and parked in a junkyard; this is a mystery. He urged NAB, FIA and provincial ombudsman to take notice of this huge scandal and begin a probe, adding startling facts would be uncovered if this matter is properly investigated.
He said having decent commuting facilities is the right of Karachiites. It would give the megacity an urban look and also spur its economy as better transportation means are necessary for a sustainable and growing economy.
He appealed to PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto, Sindh chief minister Murad Ali Shah and transport minister Sharjeel Inam Memon to take notice of the slow pace of work at Red Line BRT and do the needful to save Karachi commuters for a perpetual torment.