To do or not to do: Mass transit system makes murky appearance in provincial allocations

Project aimed at easing city’s constant traffic gridlock was first unveiled in 2012.

PESHAWAR: A mass transit system (MTS) for the provincial capital has been doing the rounds in budget speeches for several years now.

However, apart from being mentioned in speeches and documents, the promise has not turned into a tangible entity as yet.

Unplanned expansion of infrastructure and a never-ending exodus of those escaping a decade-long war, into the city has choked the otherwise spacious roads of the provincial capital. Over the past ten years, Peshawar has witnessed the closure of several routes, contributing to daily traffic nightmares.

Chief Minister (CM) Pervez Khattak presided over a meeting last Wednesday where the construction of a 27-kilometre-long, double track highway was approved for the city. A handout from the information department said the CM directed officials to complete the project within a year.

However, the budget document only made a passing reference to said project; instead the oft-repeated promise of an MTS was floated again.

Number rehash?

Minister of Finance Sirajul Haq’s speech made no mention of any allocation for an MTS in the over Rs7 billion development allocation for the provincial capital. Yet, a pamphlet containing highlights of the budget claims Rs750 million has been set aside for the project. Within the white paper issued by the finance department, the MTS does resurface under the head of foreign project assistance (FPA).

The total FPA, in the form of grants and loans, is worth Rs39.775 billion of the ADP. For the MTS, a Rs500 million Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan has been earmarked. Interestingly, the amount is also shown to be available for the same purpose in the current, 2013-14, ADP.

Another entry for the MTS in the 2014-15 budget falls under the foreign grants component where an ADB grant of Rs700 million has been set aside for a feasibility study for reference design for the project.

Been there, done that

The issue of a mass transit system for Peshawar first cropped up in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa budget back in 2012-13. Then minister for finance Humayun Khan informed the house that the government would prepare a feasibility study for the purpose in consultation with Pakistan Railways.

In case the project is workable, the government will launch a similar service from Ring Road to Peshawar Cantt, he had stated.

Humayun had said previously a Babu train from Nowshera to Peshawar was initiated for government employees but it was later closed down. He acknowledged there was a dire need for a new transport system.

In the budget speech he delivered, Humayun also acknowledged new research proves that overhead bridges are insufficient to overcome traffic problems. This dawned upon the former minister after he initiated two massive flyover projects in the city.

In last year’s budget speech, Minister for Finance Sirajul Haq had stated plans were in the making to introduce a mass transit system in Peshawar. The government’s seriousness about this can be gauged from the fact the same words spoken by the minister in 2013 regarding the project were repeated verbatim in this year’s budget pamphlet – probably the work of a sluggish bureaucrat who knew the real importance of the MTS for those at the helm.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 18^th, 2014.