KARACHI: After suffering a month-long delay due to some ‘unavoidable’ reasons, the first phase of the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) — Green Line and Orange Line — in Karachi is likely to begin by the middle of December, it emerged on Thursday.

Officials associated with the project said the BRTS-I would ‘revolutionise’ the city’s existing transport system on completion after a year.

Sources said the Orange Line project, which was planned to be launched in the first week of November, could not go as per plan, as the offers received from the bidding companies were ‘extremely impracticable’.

They said the lowest bid for the Orange Line was Rs2.2 billion, which was 80 per cent more expensive than (Rs1.3 billion) what the government consultant, Nespak, had recommended.

It was for this reason that delayed the project compelling the authorities concerned to seek fresh bids for the project, the sources said, adding that the bidding would be made this month again.

At the same time, they said, the provincial government had paid Rs200 million to the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, Sui Southern Gas Company Limited, PTCL and the National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC) for relocation of their utilities along the route of the Orange Line.

The sources said the utilities would complete relocation within two months during which the government would complete its process of rebidding. Once the relocation was done, the successful bidder would start its work and complete it by the end of next year, they said.

Orange Line will connect Orangi to the Board Office, Nazimabad, with the route of the Green Line, a project being commenced by the federal government, according to the officials.

Greeen Line

They said the Green Line project, too, would begin in the mid of December.

Green Line is a 17-km project linking Surjani and Gurumandir. It will cost Rs16.85 billion, which included a substantial elevated portion between Buffer Zone and the Lasbella intersection.

Yellow Line

The officials said the provincial government had decided to award the Rs18 billion Yellow Line project to a Chinese company, CUEC, though a formal deal of the public-private project was yet to be signed.

The 26.5-km-long project will connect Jam Sadiq Ali Bridge in Korangi Industrial Area to Saddar via Korangi Road, FTC, Sharea Faisal, Shahrah-i-Qaideen and culminate at the Preedi Street near the Parking Plaza, Saddar.

The officials said the Sindh government would put in a share of 14pc, while the CUEC’s share would be 16pc and the rest would be loan provided by the Chinese government. The project will be completed within two years after signing of the deal.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2015