• Cost is expected to increase from Rs79bn to Rs103bn
• TransKarachi says project will now be completed in 2026

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has taken notice of an inordinate delay in the completion of the Karachi’s Red Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project and directed the Pakistan Peoples Party government in Sindh to remove all bottlenecks and complete the project, it has emerged.

Work on the ambitious Rs79 billion Asian Development Bank (ADB)-funded scheme has been stopped for the past many months.

Spanning over 26km, the project was launched in 2022 and slated to be completed in 2025. However, the deadline is unlikely to be met, as contractors have stopped work due to what they call a “lack of cooperation” from the Sindh government, red-tapism, delay in land acquisition, slow relocation of utility services lines and cost escalation due to inflation.

Work on the project started after its foundation stone was laid, but after completing just five per cent of the work, the contractors halted the construction, citing cost escalation and other issues.

The Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec) has approved the inflated budget due to the increase in prices of construction materials like steel, cement, and diesel, and officials claim that the provincial government has addressed the issue of cost escalation.

In line with the president’s directives, TransKarachi — the company tasked with implementing Red Line BRT — held a meeting on Friday to streamline the project.

Dr Sharosh Lodi, vice chancellor of NED University and a TransKarachi board member told Dawn that the board meeting on Friday was told that Ecnec has approved the revised cost, up by 30 per cent.

“The overall project cost is now expected to increase from Rs79bn to Rs103bn,” Dr Lodi added.

TransKarachi General Manager for Planning and Infrastructure Pir Sajjad Sarhandi blamed all stakeholders for the delay. He reasoned that when the project started, the cost of steel was Rs90,000 per tonne, which has now gone to Rs 280,000 per tonne.

Similarly, the shifting of gas, electricity, water and sewer lines and optic fibres took more time than anticipated, further slowing construction work.

The project is now expected to be completed by 2026, Mr Sarhandi said.

Only on Saturday, Sindh Transport Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon had chaired a meeting to review the project and told all stakeholders that “we cannot afford further delays”.

“All stakeholders must sit together and ensure removal of all obstacles and issues in completion of the project,” he had told the meeting.

‘MQM-P raised issue in meeting with president’

A senior PPP leader, who requested anonymity, told Dawn that Mr Zardari took notice of the delay after a meeting with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and other parties following his election as president.

When contacted, senior MQM-P leader Syed Aminul Haq confirmed that the issue was raised with President Zardari, who assured him that he’d take up the matter with the Sindh government.

“We have raised the issue of incomplete transport projects in Karachi at all forums and in recent meetings with the PPP leadership regarding the formation of the coalition government,” he added.

‘A headache for KMC’

Karachi Mayor Barrister Murtaza Wahab said the Red Line BRT is “an important project”, but it had become a headache for Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC).

“Although it is not KMC’s project and a venture of the Sindh government, people are blaming KMC for their miseries and sufferings,” he told Dawn.

According to the project’s document, Red Line is estimated to benefit 320,000 passengers per day. The project also includes a park to be built on a 54 acres land at Rashid Minhas Road and a 16.2 acres bus depot. A biogas plant for fuel will also be built.

The project is being built in two parts: Lot-1 included the construction of two corridors from Malir Halt Depot to Mausmiyat Chowrangi and Numaish, while in Lot-2, two bus depots and the biogas plant will be built, along with the purchase of buses.

The project suffered from various disruptions since the beginning, as the contract for Lot-1 was awarded to Zahir Khan and Brothers (ZKB) at the lowest bid of Rs13.5 billion.

The award of Lot-2 went to a joint venture of China Railways No. 3 Engineering Group Co Ltd despite it now having the lowest bid initially.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2024