Millions of the commuters of the megacity suffer miserably as the second phase of Green Line RBT is still in limbo due to lack of interest of both federal and provincial governments in this lifeline commuting system of Karachi.
Pasban Democratic Party PDP Chairman Altaf Shakoor regretting the halting of work on the second phase of Green Line demanded of the government to accelerate pace of work on this very crucial phase from Mazar-e-Quaid to Meriwether Tower to facilitate Karachi commuters.
He said to cater the megacity commuters it needs dozens of new RBT systems, but we are unable to see the completion of existing one despite passage of many years.
He said public transport system in Karachi has been neglected for decades and the poor commuters face a lot of difficulties in traveling. He said the city needs at least 5000 new wide-bodied buses and a vibrant Karachi Circular Railway KCR. He regretted that in these modern times the commuters of the mega city are content to travel in overcrowded smoke-emitting minibuses and motorcycle rickshaws. He said by any standard Karachi is the most backward megacity in the world in terms of public transport facilities. He said the Sindh government has started People’s bus service in Karachi but the number of these buses is too low to cater the sprawling city.
He reminded that in 2016 former Prime Minister of Pakistan Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif laid the foundation stone of the green line metro bus system. Now its is called Green Line BRT System. However, this important commuting system faces inordinate delays and still its second phase from Numaish to Tower is pending. The snail paces progress on the second phase of Green Line BRT is frustrating the Karachiites and it seems that it would take longer times to get this important scheme completed if the federal and provincial governments failed to give it topmost priority.
Altaf Shakoor said the Orange Line BRT of Sindh government has also been facing prolonged delays. He hoped that the government of Sindh would fulfill this promise to win the hearts and minds of Karachiites. He said similarly, all other BRT announced also need greater focus of the government so that the megacity’s public transport problems could be mitigated to some extent.
He demanded of the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to give special attention to the Green Line that is the flagship project of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). He said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is well-known for his ability to successfully launch and finish development projects and it is high time that he use his leadership potential to solve the public transport problem of Karachi by expediting the Green Line BRT.
He said similarly PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah are also committed to make Karachi a modern megacity in true letter and spirit. He hoped that the federal and provincial governments would join hands to ensure early completion of the second phase of the Green Line BRT on priority.
He reiterated the demand of Karachi commuters to give the megacity a gift of at least 5000 news buses on urgent basis. He said that if the commuting system of the megacity is revamped it would spur trade, economy and industry and resultantly the revenue generating from it could be doubled
