Mass transit for Sindh

A mere setting up of a mass transit authority will do little to resolve the problem of traffic management in Karachi

In a much-belated move, the Sindh government recently introduced a bill in the provincial assembly to set up a mass transit authority that will manage all such projects in the province. This move should have been made at least 10 years earlier and by now, the province should have been reaping the benefits of mass transit. The problem of traffic management, which is worse in the burgeoning metropolis of Karachi, has grown manifold in recent years and a mere setting up of a mass transit authority will do little to resolve the issues. There are too many vehicles on the roads and too many encroachments on roadsides, among other debilitating issues afflicting this area.

The provisions of the bill must be scrutinised honestly by the members of the Sindh Assembly, who need to ensure that no single person or entity ends up reaping unfair benefits from the bill. The bill must empower the transit authority to carry out its functions in a most effective manner. Once approved, the governor must not hesitate to turn the bill into law and then the department concerned must implement its provisions in letter and in spirit.

However, while we can fool ourselves into believing that the bill was presented with honest intentions and is meant to serve the people, we must also remember that there are some built-in shortcomings in it. One such problem will be the fact that the mass transit authority will be chaired by the Sindh chief minister himself. This provision is problematic as it increasingly seems that the province is being run by one person alone. From chairing a board of medical colleges to one on development of katchi abadis, the chief minister is trying to be a jack of all trades and eventually being the master of none. Had the government’s aim actually been to resolve the traffic mess in Sindh, provision would have been made to allow for the appointment of a competent person as the head of the mass transit authority, and independent architects, urban planners and traffic managers as its members. Such moves that seem only to hoard power reflect poorly on the Sindh government.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 17^th, 2014.

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