K-P orders work resumption on BRT project

PESHAWAR: The provincial government on Monday directed to resume construction work on the long-pending mass transit project in Peshawar.

In a notification issued on Monday, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government directed the transport secretary and other relevant authorities to take all precautionary measures against the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak while resuming work on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project.

It added that it is not in the public interest to halt work on the project. Meanwhile, another report stated that the BRT project will not become operational anytime soon as the authorities are busy reconstructing one of its tracks.

The road near the Firdous feeder route has been demolished and is being rebuilt. Authorities say that a rebuilt was necessary because the surface of the road was too slippery for the buses. To improve traction, it is now being made out of concrete. Construction on the Peshawar metro bus project began in October 2017. However, three years on, the project has yet to be completed.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 7^th, 2020.