KARACHI, July 15: The ground-breaking ceremony of the Lahore Rapid Mass Transit Train project has been planned for September while Karachi, despite being the seventh largest city of the world, has yet to see complete revival of the circular railway service, which was available to citizens some four decades back.

A firm commitment to serve people is always considered as the basic component of good governance. Despite being part of the same system, rulers in Punjab seemed always determined to serve their people.

Under the Lahore mass transit project, two rapid transit train systems — the green line and the orange line —would be developed with a cost 2.4 billion dollars and 1.9 billion dollars, respectively. The green line system will have 12 underground and 10 overhead stations while six underground and 20 overhead stations would be established for the orange line. With the financial support of Asian Development Bank, the first phase of the project will be completed in four years.

People of Lahore are fortunate to have a committed and compassionate leadership while Karachiites who a few years back were quite optimistic about the revival of Karachi Circular Railway as well as the promised 8,000 CNG buses have now almost lost their hopes and trust.

In 2004, President Musharraf had ordered the revival of KCR within two years (i.e. by 2006). Orders from the highest authority resulted in partial progress on this project with the start of service from Landhi to Wazir Mansion in 2005.

The rulers and bureaucracy had claimed that the service would be extended to Nazimabad and Gillani stations after the completion of KCR second phase. However, the work on the second phase could never start. In November 2005, the issue was raised in a meeting between Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Rahim and State Minister for Railways Ishaque Khakwani at the CM’s House. The meeting approved a proposal for setting up of the Karachi Urban Transport Corporation to run the circular railway.

It was decided that the proposed company would be set up under the Companies Ordinance 1984 and the federal government would have a 60 per cent stake in it while the Sindh government would have 40 per cent ownership. It was also decided that the proposed company would work in the limits of CDGK. It would run and maintain a local train service on the main and circular railway lines.

In the second week of May last year, City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal discussed the issue with Federal Railway Minister Shaikh Raheed Ahmad who was on a visit to Karachi. The minister assured that the federal railway ministry would give assistance for the complete revival of Karachi Circular Railway.

Though statements regarding the KCR revival are issued off and on many people think that this vital issue has been put on the back burner. In Karachi where 40 passengers vie for a single seat, it is intriguing why the authorities are reluctant to revive the KCR.

The Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Higher Education Commission and Standing Committee on Scientific and Technical Cooperation experts in a draft report titled “Technology-Based Industrial Vision and Strategy for Pakistan’s Socio-Economic Development”, had strongly recommended the government to revive the KCR under the public-private partnership. However, the huge commissions, bribery and kickbacks involved in road-based transport system would be unavailable to certain quarters if the circular railway is revived.—PPI