KARACHI: Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan was informed on Friday that work on the first phase of the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) — Green Line and Orange Line — in Karachi would begin next month and be completed within one year.

Dr Ibad, who chaired a meeting at Governor House on transport projects in Karachi, was given a detailed briefing by the chief executive of the Karachi Infrastructure Development Board regarding the Green Line, Orange Line, Yellow Line and Blue Line projects of the BRTS.

The official said that the Green Line project — from Surjani Town to M.A. Jinnah Road — would be completed with an estimated cost of Rs16.85 billion to be funded by the federal government.

In order to expedite the implementation of Green Line, the federal government had already released a major portion of the estimated cost, he said, adding that the provincial government was also trying hard to execute its Orange Line project — from Orangi Town to Nazimabad — in the same time frame.

The governor was told that the Sindh government was extending full cooperation to the Karachi Infrastructure Board so that work on Orange Line could begin at the earliest.

Governor Ibad said that the Green and Orange Line projects would be completed within a year.

He said that seven corridors had been identified under the Karachi Master Plan for introducing the mass transit system.

The governor directed the officials concerned to link the BRTS projects with one another so that the system could work effectively and people could get easy access to a fast-speed transport facility.

He also directed them to ensure removal of all obstacles in the implementation of the transport projects.

He also asked the authorities to take public transporters into confidence regarding the mass transit system so that they could also play their role in an effective manner.

He said the projects were being executed for the welfare of people and the government would not like to see anyone unemployed.

The governor also directed the officials concerned to include Karachi Commissioner Shoaib Siddiqui as a member of the Karachi Infrastructure Board to facilitate mutual coordination between different government departments in completion of the projects.

The meeting was attended by Accountant General Ahsan Ali, Additional Chief Secretary Aijaz Shah, finance and local government secretaries, administrator of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and other senior officials.

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2015

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