Finance minister chairing the Ecnec meeting in Islamabad on Saturday. PHOTO: PID
ISLAMABAD: The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Saturday approved the 13 kilometere long Metro Bus Service project between Rawalpindi and Islamabad, just days before the Supreme Court is due to hear about the environmental costs of the project.
In a meeting chaired by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar at the Prime Minister office on Saturday, the Rs23.839 billion project was cleared.
The project now needs to secure clearance of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) by the environmental protection agency.
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani last week took notice of the ‘flawed’ route alignment of Islamabad section of the project in a bid to avert possible threat to the environment.
The project’s cost will be shared by the federal and Punjab governments. The federal government will contribute Rs13.419 billion whereas the Punjab government will chip in Rs10.419 billion.
The service aims to provide residents of the twin cities a high quality mass transit option. As part of the project, the Peshawar Morr Interchange will be constructed. The interchange is expected to redress the long standing complaint of congestion at this inter section.
The project envisages construction of over 13 km long dedicated signal free corridor of 9.60 to 10.10 meters width at normal section and from 19.00 to 21.10 meters width at Metro Bus System (MBS) stations and tranches in Islamabad Territory. The proposed corridor will accommodate articulated buses running simultaneously in both directions.
MBS project will start from IJ Principal Road at Faizabad where Rawalpindi portion terminates, and will traverse through IJ Principal Road, 9th Avenue, Jinnah Avenue and finally terminate at the Pakistan Secretariat, Islamabad. The Islamabad portion includes Peshawar Morr Interchange as per CDA design and a provision for 14 bus stations with allied facilities.
The meeting was attended by Minister for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage Senator Pervaiz Rashid, Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal, Minister of State for Information Technology Anusha Rehman, Federal Secretaries and senior officials from central and provincial governments.
COMMENTS (13)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
I wonder why Mian brothers are suffering from myopia of metro busses, roads etc and cannot think beyond the metro bus service in a big metropolis. Civil works forms major cost for such elevated structures. Metro train would be able to ferry many more personnel. Delhi Metro has been running excellent service and expanding rapidly. Shahbaz Shareef was in Delhi and enjoyed a ride in metro train too.
Waste of money
@Aamna H. Fasihi: Most of PIA and Pakistan Steel is overstaffed and there is not point in throwing good money after bad so I agree with privatization. So even if your father is working, I don't see the need to pay salaries to the many workers in white elephant industries who do nothing but collect salaries. On the other hand, Islamabad needs an effective public transport system to help common people travel. Most middle and working class people in Rawalpindi and Islamabad want it. It's the elite who don't want it since they have cars. Look at how effective the Metro Bus has been in Lahore in reducing traffic and providing reliable transportation for everyday Lahoris.
@mr.cheema , your comment and mentality describes exactly whats wrong with this nation, if we can't afford a car then definitely every one who is driving a car has earned it by wrong full means, if we cant afford to live in dha/bahria then again every one living in these communities are either corrupt army officers or govt officers who looted the govt so that they can afford a place in posh areas. Now coming to the project, express way option was more viable then metro bus as metro bus wont be covering much part of twin cities and a citizen will still have to use his own car or take another bus to reach his required destination.I am pretty sure they wont be able to break the vote bank of sheikh rasheed and pti by building this project.
Wow! And they couldn't give Rs. 22 bn to Pakistan Steel Mills so that my father could have got his 2 months' salary?
@Kashif: Please learn to digest progress, its definitely not easy in this country where government is alternate phrase of looting. We will vote those into power who killed Tharis, but we will deliver long speeches against those keen to improve transport for poor. Come and visit Lahore metro, it is NOT used by rich. Improving transport means is govt's responsibility as well, other than feeding people and creating jobs.
Great socio-economic policy: No food, no water, no health care, no education, no security, no sense of belonging.....but a Metro...amazing.....next a shuttle to the moon.
Any allocations for pathetic road networks across Balochistan ?
First we will have to acknowledge that Islamabad is one of the worst capital in the world in terms of public transport infrastructure. so, to make Islamabad a livable city for a common citizen, the government should go ahead with this metro bus route. although, environmental concerns exist, they are mitigable.
@unbelievable so do using oil powered plants are harmful for enviornments and making dams would require more than 5 years atleast till then we face loadsheding ? So short term projects are neccessary til u complete long term projects
Behold! O' the rich rulers of this poor country - what has struck you? Who are you trying to please? Who are you trying to fool? Who are you try to annoy? Have your brilliant minds decided that this is the best use of money? You can't give charity for a dowry when you have unmarried awaiting daughter in your own house! You can't have feasts when children in your neighbourhood are dying of hunger and famine ! You can't celebrate fashion when poor kids wander about with torn or no clothes ! Your bulging bellies and never-ending thirst for such lame medallions will never bring any good to the people. Or have you turned into that pigeon who closes his eyes thinking the cat won't kill him?
Maybe the courts should step in and ask whether anyone has considered the environment when adopting coal as your new preferred fuel source for generating power. Studies performed in developed nations clearly indicate that coal is harmful to the environment and will pose health hazards to Pakistani citizens. You may decide to go ahead anyway but wouldn't it be nice to have all the facts available before making Billion $ commitments?