KARACHI: Hundreds of thousands of commuters suffer on daily basis due to the dug-up University Road as the Redline Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is further delayed, said Pasban Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Altaf Shakoor here Sunday, demanding early start of work on this crucial project of the megacity.
He said on one hand the Karachiites face immense public transport issues and on the other handed vital BRT projects in the megacity are seemingly put on the ice. He said the Redline BRT is a key commuting project of Karachi but the provincial government of the PPP is least interested in completing it. He regretted that Sindh transport minister Sharjeel Inam Memon seems to be preoccupied with all other matters sans the public transport woes of the megacity.
He said Karachi is an orphaned city of Pakistan where major public transport projects are either ignored or unfinished. He said the Green Line BRT is only half finished while the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) is once again put on the back burner. He said both the federal and provincial governments are least concerned about the public transport issues of Karachi, while the city mayor lives in some dream world, totally isolated from the ground realities of Karachi.
He said the local government system has failed to deliver in the megacity as the elected councillors have greatly disappointed their voters.
Shakoor said it needs to adopt a holistic approach while dealing with the public transport issues of Karachi and all concerned departments and agencies of federal, provincial and city government should work in tandem.
He said the Lyari Expressway (LEW) also needs a serious attention as its opening and ending points face agonizing traffic jams due to encroachments. He said the entry and exit points of the LEW need redesign to allow smooth flow of traffic. He said even the both sides of the wide bed of the Lyari River could be easily used for heavy traffic, as sans a few days of rainy seasons this river-stream has very low water flow. He said in dry weather the wide river bed could easily be used for goods traffic if properly developed and paved.
Altaf Shakoor demanded to establish an independent Public Transport Authority in Karachi to govern its road and surface-rail based commuting problems. He said even many smaller cities in the world have underground railway systems but Karachi, one of the largest cities of the world, is still deprived of this urban facility.
He requested the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, Transport Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon and City Mayor Murtaza Wahab to give some really serious focus to the chaotic public transport system of Karachi and start resolving it, beginning with the early completion of the lingering Redline BRT.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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