Left stranded: Citizens to face the brunt

KARACHI:

In the end, it is always the citizens who suffer. While the SHC’s decision is highly commendable and expected, the transport authorities’ lack of preparation has left over half of Karachi’s population stranded. These were the daily-wage earners and labourers who used this cheap mode of transport to travel across the city in the absence of a safer alternative.

The transport minister, Mumtaz Jakhrani told The Express Tribune that he was now ready to conduct a meeting that will discuss how to deal with the situation. He was adamant that he would follow the instructions of the high court and would ask the traffic police department to speed up their action against the Qingqis.

On a question what would be the mode of transport for the public once all the Qingqis are impounded, he repeated the age-old rhetoric of the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT). The minister failed to realise that even if the project started tomorrow, it would take at least three to four years to start functioning.

KTI ready

Meanwhile the Karachi Transport Ittehad (KTI) claim they are ready to bring their buses back on the roads, but that too would take a couple of months at least. KTI’s general secretary Mehmood Afridi said that they would bring their coaches as well as the mini-buses if the government allowed them.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 6^th, 2015.