Orange Line BRT construction resumes after long wait

Initiated in 2016, the project has been hit with unnecessary delays

Development work on the Orange Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, which has been going on under the supervision of the Sindh government, has finally resumed.

On the directives of Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, the deadline for the completion of the project has been set for November. Due to the slow pace of work, however, experts say that the project is expected to finish in March, 2021.

The Orange Line BRT project was started in 2016 under the supervision of the Sindh Mass Transit Authority (SMTA), a provincial government body, and was supposed to be completed within a year. However, after four-and-a-half years, 20 per cent of the work is still to be done.

Karachi Urban Lab senior researcher and urban planner Muhammad Toheed said the Orange Line project was delayed due to the incompetence of the officers representing the SMTA.

“Like other projects, this Orange Line BRT project did not include community suggestions, which makes the project difficult to implement in the future,” he said. “If this costly project fails, who will be responsible?”

Toheed added that there were many cities in the world where BRT projects had failed.

According to a survey conducted by The Express Tribune, the Orange Line bus project covers a distance of four kilometres from the Orangi Municipal Office to Matriculation Board Chowrangi.

The elevated track on the project has been completed, together with the construction of a road linking the Matriculation Board Office to Banaras Bridge road. Meanwhile, work on four stations, four pedestrian bridges, and a depot is incomplete.

Per sources, the development work on bus stations and pedestrian bridges resumed on August 10. The pace of work is also fast but the laziness and negligence demonstrated by authorities in the past have made it impossible for workers to complete the project in three months, that is, by November.

The construction of stations requires a lot of technical expertise as fitting small parts is a time-consuming task. Lifters and other parts required to be installed at stations have been imported from China. One of the lifters has not yet arrived and will be imported next month, sources said.

A source at the SMTA, who chose not to be named, said that the Centre and the Sindh government have reached an agreement under which the federal government will take over the procurement and operational management of 25 buses of the Orange Line project for three years. On the other hand, all expenses will be borne by the Sindh government.

“After three years, the federal government will hand over buses and operational arrangements to the Sindh government,” the official said. “Now the responsibility of the Sindh government is only to build the corridor of the Orange Line BRT project but even then, the Sindh government is not fulfilling its responsibility,” he said.

A provincial transport department official, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, said there were several reasons for the slow work on the Orange Line BRT.

“The coronavirus lockdown imposed by the Sindh government on March 22 halted the work. The lockdown was partially lifted in June but work could not start on time due to the non-disbursement of funds by the Sindh Finance Department,” he revealed. Besides, he added, several labourers went to their villages due to the pandemic as well as to celebrate Eidul Azha.

“The funds have been released and labourers have returned to resume the work as of August 10,” he said.

When contacted, Sindh transport secretary Muhammad Shariq said that he only looked after the administrative matters.

“It would have been better to talk to the managing director of the SMTA, Iqtidar Ahmed,” he said.

The Express Tribune tried contacting Ahmed, but he did not respond.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 22^nd, 2020.