A plan without foresight

Arguably, of all cities, Karachi requires the most attention in terms of maintenance, due to being the economic hub of the country, housing a major port and containing the largest population. Admittedly, it must be an unnerving task to be part of a committee responsible for giving the city a makeover. Alleyways have turned into service lanes and actual side roads and service lanes have turned into major thoroughfares while main roads and expressways experience gridlocked traffic. Quite an enigmatic maze it is, and yet, engineers behind Karachi’s proposed Red Line Bus Rapid Transit System have failed to take traffic into consideration during the construction of its 29-km-long corridor, which will run alongside the University Road, one of the busiest roads in the city.

Even with three consulting firms for the $220 million ADB-funded project, none was able to realise the need to produce a traffic contingency plan. Where there is oversight on the part of the private sector, it is the government’s duty to implement and enforce regulations. However, we are not a country with enforced regulations and that is a reflection of laziness on the part of past leaderships. The Sindh Environmental Protection Agency has slacked. Its inefficiency was evidenced with the construction of the similar Green Line Bus project and it should be held accountable this time if it does not follow through. Environmental impact assessments need to be valued — this is critical for Pakistan, poised to be one of the worst impacted by climatic and environmental changes. One needs to consider such factors when expanding upon urbanisation in the industrial city.

Secondly, on the same road along which the Red Line is to be constructed, several deaths were reported last year when parts of the road were closed off due to road renovations. It is a vulnerable stretch and responsible entities are currently demonstrating a lack of concern for human safety by failing to devise a traffic management plan for the construction that is predicted to take several years before completion.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 18^th, 2018.

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