KARACHI: Speakers at an international conference that opened at the NED University of Engineering and Technology on Friday regretted the government’s apathy towards the chronic public transport crisis affecting millions of citizens every day and called for an integrated transport system.

Such a system, they said, must include a circular railway, apart from feeder bus services as being operated in Lahore, because the under-construction mass transit system would cater to the needs of only 10 per cent of Karachi’s citizens.

Titled the ‘Fifth international conference on infrastructural engineering in developing countries’, the two-day programme was jointly organised by the Institution of Engineers Pakistan (IEP) and NED University’s Urban and Infrastructure Engineering Department. 

Scholars say under-construction mass transit projects to benefit only 10pc of citizens

Giving a presentation on spatial efficiency of public transport system in Karachi, Dr Salman Zubair, an assistant professor at Karachi University’s Geography Department, said the absence of an efficient public transport system was the city’s most pressing problem that directly affected 50pc of its population daily.

Showing different slides with pictures on the present status of public transport, he said many people with no other option risked their life while travelling in inhuman conditions in ramshackle vehicles. 

“Data shows that 90pc working people use some public transport but only over four per cent of the total vehicles that ply on roads constitute public transport,” Dr Zubair said, adding that the available public transport system in the city was unable to serve the existing and incremental demand of the population. 

20,000 buses needed

According to him, the city hasn’t seen any new bus service in the past decade. On an average, only one bus is available for 12,500 passengers whereas the city needs at least 20,000 buses. 

A major drawback of this prolonged crisis, he said, was increased use of private vehicles especially motorbikes, that is a leading cause of road accidents and traffic congestion.

Sharing his study’s findings, Dr Zubair said it had showed that the present bus fleet was greatly overburdened, suggesting an integrated public transport system.

Endorsing his point, architect Ravinder Kumar Khiani of the NED University referred to Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore and explained how a rapid transit railway system not only proved an efficient mode of transport to people but played a major role in boosting the economy. 

He also traced the history of various master plans for Karachi that remained unimplemented mainly due to political reasons and recommended that the government, instead of waiting for foreign investment and experts, should act within its resources and develop its own policy based on protecting people’s rights.

Earlier, Dr Said Munir, of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Institute for Haj and Umrah Research, Umm Al Qura University of Makkah, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, spoke about his study on environmental pollution due to traffic emissions and said that the level of air pollution increased in Makkah during Ramazan and Haj as millions of Muslims visited the city that resulted in enhanced traffic volume.

Other research papers presented during technical sessions included seismic capacity assessment of un-reinforced confined block masonry walls, utilisation of high-strength coconut fibre, reinforced concrete in bridge pier and study of size consequence on shear strength of steel fibre reinforced concrete beams.

The inaugural ceremony was addressed by Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar, NED University Vice Chancellor Prof Sarosh H. Lodi, IEP chairman Prof S.F.A Rafeeqi and Prof Mir Shabbar Ali, the dean of civil engineering and architecture faculty of the NED University. 

“Karachi, which was once the City of Lights, has now turned into a city of problems. It faces an acute shortage of water all the time whereas the state of other basic utilities is also highly worrisome,” remarked the mayor in his brief speech.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2017