Altaf Staff ReporterExpressing grave concern over inconvenience to drivers and commuters due to the dug up University Road, Pasban Democratic Party PDP Chairman AltafShakoor here Sunday demanded from the government to expedite the lingering project of the Red Line Bus Rapid Transit.He said it is a nightmare to travel on the University Road, one of the busiest arteries of Karachi, as it is broken at several places due to haphazard and over delayed construction of the Red Line BRT.
He said it has become a second nature of governmental projects to go delayed beyond their schedule. He said this delay not only raises their cost but also torments innocent people.AltafShakoor asked the government to ensure that the contractor engages more workforce in three shifts on these projects to complete it early. He said with the completion of this project, the busy University Road could be fully reopened again and the lingering traffic jams in this area of Karachi would finally end.He said it is heartening to know that the federal government is handling the crucial Green Line BRT to the Sindh government in December.
He said the second part of the Green Line from Mazar e Quaid to Tower needs to be started as soon as possible. He said it is need of the hour that all BRT projects of Karachi should be interlinked so that commuters could travel easily from one part of the megacity to other with ease and in time saving manner.He said it is good to see that many BRT projects in the megacity are planned but the basic commuting system, Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) has been silently put to the ice.
He said it was being said that the KCR would be initiated through the CPEC, but since long the government had kept mum over the fate of KCR. He said without a rail-based commuting system, the public transport issues of Karachi could not be resolved fully.
He said all megacities in the world do have surface and underground railway commuting systems but in Karachi this is not the case.AltafShakoor hoped that the government would realise the sufferings of drivers and commuters who use the broken University Road and ensure that the delayed project of Red Line BRT would be completed by accelerating the pace of work on this long delayed project. He also demanded that roadside encroachments on all roads including the University Road should be removed on urgent and sustainable basis, saying this busy road is encroached at Hassan Square, Old SabziMandi, Mosimiyat, Safoora and other places by push cart vendors, eateries and other encroachers.
