Karachi to have electric cab service soon: Sharjeel

Sindh Minister for Information, Transport and Mass Transit Sharjeel Inam Memon on Tuesday announced that an electric taxi service will be launched soon in Karachi under the Sindh Mass Transit Authority, and it was agreed in principle in a meeting that the taxi service would be launched in two phases with a fleet of blue and pink cabs.

The pink taxi would be reserved for women, he said while talking to media at the Sindh Assembly’s Media Corner. PPP Sindh Assembly member Syed Zulifiqar Ali Shah was also present on the occasion.

Memon said that in first phase the pink taxi service for women would be launched and women captains would be hired to drive pink cabs, and its fare would be between Rs200 and 500. He added that a proper monitoring system, including cameras, would be installed in the taxis for the safety of passengers.

The provincial transport minister said that on the directives of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the public transport system was being modernised in the province. He said that the BRT Orange Line was functional and it was being redesigned to integrate it with the Green Line.

He said the people’s bus service had been successfully running its operations in Karachi, Larkana and Hyderabad, and at the end of December, it would be launched in the Sukkur city. He announced that the first electric bus service would also be launched soon in Karachi and negotiations on the agreement with operators were in the final phase.

Memon said the BRT Yellow Line would start soon and its construction would commence with the construction of a bridge along with the Jam Sadiq Bridge soon. He added that the international bidding process had been started and traffic police directed to divert heavy traffic.

Memon called traffic a serious issue in the city, and said JICA had conducted a study on Karachi traffic in 2011. He added that a company had been tasked to conduct a new study on traffic and it was under way.

Illegal immigrants

The minister said the issue of illegal Immigrants was mandate of NARA, and the Sindh police were trying to address the issue and had arrested a number of illegal Immigrants. He said the arrested illegal immigrants would be deported after legal formalities. He said illegal immigrants have no right to do sale and purchase of any kind, and it is international law that illegal immigrants have no such rights. He said illegal immigrants would be dealt with strictly according to law, and they were involved found in street crime they would be deported.

PTI in chaos

The information minister said the PTI was in a state of chaos, fear and panic, and its own chief minister of Punjab had called the PTI chief “selfish and ungrateful, but ashtonishingly no leader of the party had condemned it. He wondered when Imran Khan had not spared his patrons, what he would do for the people.

Trans Karachi meeting

The chairman of Trans Karachi said all projects should be completed on time, so that the cost does not escalate, as the burden of cost increase falls on the government treasury.

Presiding over the 22nd Board of Directors meeting of Trans Karachi at his office, Memon said people were facing severe problems on University Road, and the government was trying to complete that project soon.

He asked the administrator of Karachi to resolve the land issue for the construction of the BRT Red Line bus depots. Administrator Dr Saifur Rahman told the board that 10 acres for the construction of the bus depots had been allocated at the Aladin Park, and Trans Karachi may take control of the land today.

In the meeting, the minutes of the 21st Board or Directors meeting were also approved and the progress of the BRT Red Line project was reviewed. The meeting was attended by Secretary Transport Abdul Haleem Sheikh, Managing Director Sindh Mass Transit Authority Zubair Chana, Justice retired Shaiq Usmani, Rukhsana Rahooja, Shamail Sikandar, CEO Trans Karachi Wasif Ajjal, and Company Secretary Iqbal Lalani among others.