The wheels turn: 36 CNG buses finally made functional after three years

The vehicles were purchased by city govt but never hit the road.


Our Correspondent September 05, 2014

KARACHI:


A total of 36 CNG buses that have been rusting away for around three and a half years now, will finally ply on the roads of the city after the project was inaugurated by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah on Friday.


The vehicles were purchased by the then city government under Syed Mustafa Kamal but have been lying non-functional since then. The fleet of buses have now been renovated by the provincial government at a cost of Rs40 million.

The service, named the ‘People’s Bus Service’, will run from Quaidabad to Tower and a one-way ticket will cost Rs20.

The provincial transport secretary, Taha Faruqui, pledged that 36 more buses will be added to the service next month and said buses would ply from district West to Tower. He said that the provincial government had allocated around Rs3 billion for a ‘green line project’, but since this project has been taken over by the federal government, its budget would be diverted to the ‘red line’ that is part of the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) scheme.

“We want to improve the living standards of the people of Karachi and are introducing these 72 buses for their convenience,” said Shah, adding that he hoped the transport issue will be resolved in Sindh, particularly in Karachi where Qingqi rickshaws have clogged up the already congested roads. “We want to end the monopoly of transporters,” he said, while addressing the gathering held at the CM House to mark the inauguration.

The chief minister claimed that the government has made an arrangement under which CNG will be provided to the buses seven days a week without any interruption.

Funding for the Karachi Circular Railway

Though the chief minister and his entire team insisted that the Japan International Cooperation Agency had not refused funding for the Karachi Circular Railway project, the chief minister in his speech announced that they are now seeking a loan from a Chinese firm.  He, however, refused to shed further light on the issue and said, “During our recent visit to China, we held a meeting to mobilise the donors to invest in KCR and other transport and energy related projects.” Shah added that Chinese companies have also expressed their willingness to work on KCR.

Promises made

Earlier, KMC administrator Rauf Akhtar Farooqui briefed the audience about the role of the provincial government in transport and other development schemes and claimed that the KMC, with the help of the Sindh government, will build various flyovers and roads in the city.

Information and local government minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said that the provincial government will start a drive against the encroachments on nullahs.

The CM with his cabinet members, officials of KMC and media travelled in one of the buses, albeit with strict security measures in place.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 6th, 2014.

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