KARACHI: The Sindh government on Sunday claimed to have resumed the work to construct the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Red Line and announced that any decision to revise the cost of the project would be taken through consensus between the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other stakeholders.

Senior Sindh Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, who holds the portfolios of transport, information and excise and taxation, announced this during a visit to the construction sites of the project at Jinnah Avenue, Malir Cantonment, Gulshan-i-Iqbal and Numaish Chowrangi.

The work on the much-awaited project had been stopped by contractors six months ago amid growing cost of construction materials and declining value of rupee. The project which was supposed to be completed in 2025 still lagging far behind the deadline.

During his visit, the minister was accompanied by transport secretary Asad Zamin and others.

The minister didn’t share any fresh deadline while announcing the resumption of work. Instead, he added that the issue of cost increase was yet to be finalised.

Asks contractors to complete work on Jinnah Avenue within three months

The contractors, consultants and the ADB were reviewing the cost of the Red Line project and changes would be made through consensus, he told the media in response to a question.

He said problems related to the project had been resolved. “Only a few issues are remaining which will be resolved soon,” he said.

“The development work will be carried out in three shifts. The government has directed [the contractors] to complete the BRT Red Line work on Jinnah Avenue within three months. The development work on the project was stopped during the caretaker government due to inflation. The caretaker government turned a blind eye to the project,“he claimed.

The Red Line is part of the Karachi Breeze — a plan of some 112.9 kilometres long BRT projects with five dedicated bus tracks.

However, so far only two of the five lines, Green Line and Orange Line, could be made operational as the Green Line project is also incomplete.

With initial estimated cost of $493.5 million co-financed by the ADB, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the French Agency for Development, and the Green Climate Fund, the 26-kilometre Red Line would ferry passengers on dedicated track between Model Colony and the Numaish intersection via University Road.

In second half of 2023, the contractors stopped the work in view of cost escalation, lack of required land, delay in designing and non-cooperation by the caretaker government of Sindh. However, the fresh claim by the senior Sindh minister suggested that all’s well.

“The transport department is working day and night. We are not just making tall claims. We are working practically day and night. We all have to play our role in the development of the country. We will try to accomplish one year’s work in six months and six months’ work in three months,” said Mr Memon.

He said the work on BRT Yellow Line had also started while many projects were underway in the city with the support of the World Bank.

The BRT Yellow Line is 26 km long, starting from Dawood Chowrangi to Numaish Chowrangi & Regal Chowk via 8000 Road, Korangi Road and FTC.

Published in Dawn, May 6th, 2024