Red Line project completion hits snag
As the city of Quaid endeavors to upgrade its infrastructure and public facilities, the surfacing of unanticipated logistical and financial hindrances in projects like the Karachi Bus Rapid Transit Red Line acts as a major roadblock in its journey towards urban development.
Initiated in August of 2022, under the supervision of Trans Karachi, the Red Line project aimed to connect the Model Colony to Tower via University Road, the MA Jinnah Extension Road, and Numaish Chowrangi.
The nascent project received millions of dollars worth of funding from organizations like the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Development Bank, the French Development Agency alongside the Green Claims Fund and the Government of Sindh, and was slated to reach completion within two years, by August of 2024.
However, as per recent revelations made by well-placed sources from the provincial transport department, the project has been pushed a year ahead, to 2025, due to unwarranted delays in its construction which arose out of the relocation of utility lines, disagreements over pricing with contractors, delays in construction, encroachments, and parking violations.
As per a source from the transport department privy to the development project, the contractors had halted development work on several components during the previous two months as they demanded higher prices for the supply of construction material.
The source also revealed that the illegal parking of cars and motorcycles near the Red Line alongside the sale of sacrificial animals, during the month leading up to Eid, at various locations on the University Road, had grossly interfered with the ongoing development work.
“Moreover, the construction work has also been impacted by the transferring of utility lines including the underground telecommunication, power, gas, and water pipelines,” informed the source, who further revealed that a 36-inch water main had recently burst during construction in front of the University of Karachi, suspending the work on the Red Line.
While it remains to be seen whether the project will indeed be completed by 2025, regional planners feel that another year of construction will lead to severe on-site accidents given the fact that a large area of the construction site remains buried under darkness.
“There are no lighting installations at the University Road, which means that there is always a high probability of fatal road accidents involving citizens,” said Dr Nawaz-ul-Hudi, a regional planner based in Karachi, in a conversation with The Express Tribune.
When asked about the valid concerns raised by experts to the safety of University Road’s users, Trans Karachi’s General Manager, Pir Sajjad maintained that basic safety precautions including the usage of luminescent reflector tapes, were being rigorously enforced and that fences had been put up at excavation sites. The Express Tribune also asked Sajjad about the delay in the project due to encroachments.
“As far as the Red Line’s completion is concerned, the Municipal Corporation of Karachi is actively working to clear the encroachments and promptly transfer lines so that the construction is not hampered. The corridor is scheduled to be completed by 2025, and with the arrival of buses, it will become fully operational in the following year,” assured Sajjad.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 7th, 2023.