KARACHI, March 26: The city government is planning to start a night train under its circular railway project that will cover the entire city. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has already been signed in this regard. The City Naib Nazim, Tariq Hasan, said this while briefing an Indian delegation that called on him at his office on the M.A. Jinnah Road on Saturday. The Indian delegation is led by Mr Ash Narain Roy and comprises 33 people. He informed the delegation that the Karachi circular railway was being revived, while work on the mass transit project was also underway. Giving information about further development works in Karachi, the naib nazim said two desalination and power generation plants were also being set up in coastal areas, he said. He appreciated the support of President Pervez Musharraf. “Changes have taken place in Karachi after three years, which can be clearly witnessed,” he said. The delegation was told that the city government had increased its budget from Rs27 billion to Rs32 billion.

Meanwhile, funds of Rs6.4 million were approved for the nazims of UCs and Rs1.5 million for city councillors to benefit the public directly.

Giving information to the Indian delegation about the city, Mr Hasan said that Karachi had 18 towns and 178 union councils.

“Each union council has a population between 52,000 and 62,000, while the total number of councillors in the city is 3,738. Besides, there are some 580 slum areas in Karachi,” the naib nazim said. —PPI