On Monday, Foreign Minister and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari inaugurated intra-district ’Peoples Bus Service’ project in Karachi which will cost maximum Rs50. The politician had a ride on the bus himself as well to review the facilities and inspect its services.
The Sindh’s government ‘People’s Bus Service’ is a separate project from the network of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lines. Under the project, around 240 air-conditioned buses imported from China will be plied on seven routes in the metropolis. This project is a bid to facilitate the people with state-of-the-art transport service.
The foreign minister unveiled the plaque to inaugurate the service at Fatima Jinnah Road and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Minister for Transport and Information Sharjeel Inam Memon, Karachi Administrator Murtaza Wahab and Labour Minister Saeed Ghani were also present on the occasion.
Sindh Minister for Information and Transportation Sharjeel Memon said that the bus service will be operational on Route 1, from Model Colony to Tower, which comprises 38 stations spread across 29.5 kilometers, under which 30 buses will operate from 7am to 12am. The bus service project has six other routes which include North Karachi to Indus Hospital, Korangi, Nagan Chowrangi to Singer Chowrangi, Korangi Industrial Area, North Karachi to Dockyard, Surjani Town to PAF Base Masroor, Gulshan-e-Bihar, Orangi Town to Singer Chowrangi and Mosamiyat to Baldia Town. Sindh Minister said that the service will kick off on the route from North Karachi to Korangi from next week and it will be fully operational on the remaining routes by August 14. He further stated that 130 more buses will reach Karachi port this week.
The launching of the much-anticipated project corresponding to the fast-approaching second phase of the local government elections in Karachi as it is the belief of many that the PPP-led Sindh government is attempting to tempt the common man by introducing projects of public importance ahead of elections.
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The Sindh government has allocated a sum of Rs4 billion in its budget for the next financial year 2022-23 for procuring more buses to be run in Karachi under the same project.
