The Sindh government seeks the assistance of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for constructing the Southern Bypass and the Red Line busway of the Karachi Metrobus project in Karachi as well as the Hyderabad Bypass scheme in Hyderabad.
Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah disclosed this on Thursday during a meeting with an eight-member ADB delegation led by its Country Director Xiaohong Yang.
Shah was accompanied by ministers Jam Mehtab Dahar, Nasir Shah and Imdad Pitafi, Planning & Development (P&D) Chairman Mohammad Waseem, CM’s Principal Secretary Sohail Rajput, Education Secretary Aziz Uqaili, Finance Secretary Hassan Naqvi, Works Secretary Aijaz Memon, Transport Secretary Raheem Soomro and others.
The chief executive said the ADB was one of the most important partners of the provincial administration in terms of infrastructure development, transport, education and health. “We have planned some very important projects in the transport, education and roads sectors, for which the ADB’s support and cooperation is required to implement them.”
P&D Chairman Waseem briefed the meeting that the Red Line busway project was planned to be launched from Model Colony and terminate at Numaish via University Road. “This is one of the important corridors for which the government has almost completed all the formalities, such as the development of the mass transit authority and the induction of the necessary staff. The process to recruitment more people is also under way.”
Transport Minister Nasir Shah said that the provincial government was developing the Orange Line busway and that the federal government was constructing the Green Line busway of the Karachi Metrobus project.
“We owe our gratitude to the ADB because its team is also working on developing an integration plan for all the different bus rapid transit lines.” The CM informed the ADB director that the rundown of the Red Line project was being sent to the federal government for approval.
“We [the Sindh government and the ADB] would sign the agreement once the project is approved,” he said, adding that the P&D and transport departments would complete the other requirements in the meantime. “I want to perform the groundbreaking by year-end.”
He said that with the assistance of the ADB’s Rs15.559 million, 328 kilometres of roads were being constructed, adding that the Thul to Kandhkot Road, Sheranpur to Ratodero Road and Digri to Naukot Road would be completed soon.
He said work on other roads, such as Khyber to Sanghar via Tando Adam, Sanghar to Mirpurkhas via Sindhri and Tando Mohammad Khan to Badin, was in progress. He directed Works Minister Pitafi and Works Secretary Memon to personally monitor the progress of those roads and keep him posted through their progress reports.
“These road schemes have saved us Rs3.1 billion, which may be utilised to construct two more roads from Tangwani to Jacobabad and one in the Hyderabad district.” On this ADB director Yang assured the chief minister that she would get their approval from the bank in accordance with the Sindh government’s plans.
Education Minister Dahar and Education Secretary Uqaili briefed the meeting about a newly prepared $300 million (approximately Rs31.56 billion) scheme of the Sindh education sector’s improvement project. “Under the scheme, necessary improvements will be carried out in the entire education system of the public sector.”
Yang advised the education department to send the proposal to the ADB for further deliberation and consultation before it could be approved. Waseem proposed constructing a bypass at Hyderabad to cater for the traffic coming from Mirpurkhas, Tando Allah Yar and Badin via National Highway and travelling towards Sukkur and upcountry.
The meeting decided to complete the paperwork of the project so that it could be taken up for further discussion. The chief executive thanked the ADB for their support through the Flood Emergency Reconstruction Project, under which the damaged road infrastructure was developed. He presented Yang, who assumed the office of the ADB director on April 27, with the traditional khes and ajrak, Sindhi music CDs and decoration pieces.