KARACHI, Aug 9: The government has invited private investors to revive the Karachi Circular Railways (KCR) project which has so far remained dormant owing to the issues connected with land, infrastructure and investment.

This was stated by Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad while talking to newsmen at his official residence after having an aerial view of the Lyari Expressway sites around the city. He assessed the progress made so far on the project.

Besides involving private sector, he said, the government also would have to play its role in reviving the project in order to improve the transport profile in the city.

According to the reports based on an earlier feasibility report, revitalization of the KCR would cost Rs12 billion. However, the Railways has since declined to run the KCR, prompting the government to look for private investors.

Originally, the KCR was to be relaunched from May 1, 2001 under a new management to provide fast, economical and comfortable transport facility to commuters. The (now defunct) KMC was to manage the KCR with the technical assistance of Railways under the supervision of the provincial government.

It may be pointed out that several feasibility reports had been prepared to revive the project but none of them could get the required approval because of bureaucratic lethargy and intrusion of transport mafia.

The governor stressed the need for expediting the Karachi Mass Transit Programme. Only then, he said, the traffic congestion in the mega city would be eased.

It may be mentioned here that the city government had signed an MoU, pertaining to the introduction of Magnetic Train, with Inter-Globe, a Swiss-German firm. The MoU documents had estimated the cost of the project at US$1.2 billion and the magnetic trains were to become operational in three years. But no progress has been made so far and investors are shying away owing to a chaotic situation.

Dr Ibad told a questioner that 36-km-long Northern Bypass would be completed by December this year and it would be linked with the RCD Highway the end of next month. He said that containment of traffic congestion would help in removing encroachments and combating crime.

The governor also visited starting point of the Lyari Expressway where he was briefed by the project director Shafiqur Rahman Paracha on the resettlement process.

According to the executive summary, the 16.5-km project on either side of the road, commenced on May 11, 2002 and is scheduled to be completed on Nov 8 this year. Under the Lyari Expressway Resettlement Project, an amount of Rs1,199.396 million has been disbursed out of the sum of Rs1,200 million released until July 2004.

The governor was informed that facilities for 5,000 houses had been provided in the Hawkesbay Town under the plan. In Baldia Town, facilities for 4,000 houses had been provided whereas in Taiser Town, the facilities provided were meant for 6,000 houses.

The governor noted that there were some problems and delays because of the involvement of many civic agencies. Besides, there were some problems relating to coordination.

The governor, who also had an aerial view of the coastline from Gadani to Sea View point, besides roads and flyovers, said that some neglected parts on the coast needed attention.