Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has approved the release of Rs195 million for the ‘Intra-City Bus Project’ paving the way for 32 new public buses to be operated along Sharea Faisal by next month.
While the Sharea Faisal buses would be the project’s first phase, the second would entail introduction of new passenger buses on five different routes across the metropolis.
Shah’s approval came at a meeting he held at the CM House on Monday with transport department officials to review the progress of the Intra-City and Inter-City bus projects and the BRTS Orange Line.
The meeting was attended by planning & development (P&D) minister Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani, transport & information minister Syed Nasir Shah, P&D chairman Mohammad Waseem, transport secretary Saeed Awan and others.
The information and transport minister informed the meeting participants that the provincial government had earmarked Rs2 billion to be deposited with ‘Sindh Modarba Ltd’ to support subsidy requirements of the project over a period of five years.
He said 15 percent transporters’ equity and 15 percent equity would be shared by the Sindh government in the form of interest-free loan.
Nasir Shah said the transport department had received the proposal from the Daewoo Express Ltd which envisaged inducting 288 vehicles on five routes with an average fleet of 50 vehicles per route. The routes are Qayyumabad to Qasba Colony, Baldia to Quaidabad, Shah Faisal Colony to Fisheries, Landhi to Surjani and Landhi to Baldia.
The chief minister directed the provincial minister to start 32 Daewoo buses on long routes of Sharea Faisal and then extend the service to other routes.
The CM directed the transport minister to make necessary arrangements for inaugurating the bus service on Sharea Faisal on February 15. He also approved the release of Rs195 million to start the project.
Inter-city bus project
The transport minister while briefing the chief minister on the Inter-City Bus Project said that like the Intra-City Bus Project, the Sindh government had also allocated Rs2 billion and placed at the disposal of the Sindh Mudarba for subsidy requirements of the project. There was same seventy to thirty percent debt equity ratio, he added.
He said the Daewoo Express, keeping in view the Sindh Mudarba Ltd’s service, had also given a proposal to ply 134 vehicles on nine different routes. The routes are Karachi to Hyderabad, Karachi to Sukkur, Karachi to Mirpurkhas, Karachi to Larkana, Karachi to Benazirabad, Karachi to Multan, Karachi to Dera Ghazi Khan, Karachi to Quetta and Sukkur to Quetta.
Nasir Shah said Daewoo had also proposed to be partnering with nine independent sole proprietors who would apply also participate in the project. Under the proposed arrangement, he said the sole proprietor would handle the equity site of the project and would own the buses while Daewoo would be the operational partner and manage/operate the fleet.
Each sole proprietor would be eligible for the Sindh Mudarba loan for the project. The chief minister directed the minister to expedite the proposal and just after the launch of the Intra-City phase-I, he would launch the Inter-City Bus Project.
The CM was also informed that the total length of the project was 3.88 km with six bus stations, of those one would be elevated. It would have a ridership of 50,000 passengers per day. There are two packages of the projects.
The package -1 starts from Town Administration (TMA) Orangi Town to Bacha Khan Flyover. The package-2 starts from Bacha Khan Flyover to Jinnah University for Women, North Nazimabad.
The first package costs Rs643.35 million and its length is 1.38 km, with two bus stations and one of them is elevated. Presently, 42 percent work has been done while its completion date is April 2018.
The second package is 2.5km long with completion cost of Rs496.76 million. It would have four bus stations and its work had been done by 25 percent. The chief minister directed the transport minister to keep visiting both the packages of the project.