Eco-friendly Bio Hybrid Buses would operate on Red-line BRT – Sindh Chief Secretary
Work on Red-line BRT project would start from July this year
Karachi: Chief Secretary Sindh Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah has said that work on BRT Red Line project would start from July this year and 250 State of the Art Bio Hybrid buses would be operated to provide people of Karachi a zero-emission mass transit system.
He said this while presiding over a meeting on BRT Red Line project here Wednesday. The meeting was attended by Secretary Transport and Mass Transit Shariq Ahmed, Commissioner Karachi Naveed Ahmed Sheikh, CEO, Wasif Ijlal, General Manager Infrastructure and Planning, Dr. Syed Murtaza Asghar Bukhari and General Manager Operations Ahmed T. Kidwai of TransKarachi.
Wasif Ijlal informed the meeting that the project would have its own biogas plant at Landhi Cattle Colony, where 3000 tons of cattle waste would be used to make biogas daily. The biogas plant will supply 11 tons of compressed biometric gas (CBG) per day to these buses and will be supplemented with demand over time.
Dr. Syed Murtaza Asghar Bukhari informed the meeting that the Sindh government in collaboration with Asian Development Bank has completed the preliminary planning and design of 500 Million US Dollar Red Line project under which a bus corridor from Malir Halt to Numaish Chowrangi via University Road will be constructed. The project envisages a façade to façade development, including a cycling track from People’s Chowrangi to Safora Chowrangi. Red Line would be a third generation BRT system in which feeder routes will be connected to the main corridor.
Chief Secretary Mumtaz Ali Shah said that the use of Biomethane gas will reduce the carbon emissions in the city. He further said that with the completion of the project more than 350,000 passengers would get the transport facilities. He said that the red line BRT project is a game changer for the City and first of its kind project where detailed design and planning has been done to provide state of the art transport facilities to the masses. The red line project is also unique because under the project 25,000 saplings will also be planted along and in proximity to the corridor.
The chief Secretary said that the detailed temporary traffic management plan for construction phase must be implemented in true spirit. Accordingly, he directed that all utility service providers must ensure timely relocation of their utilities and for that the progress shall be monitored on weekly basis. (PR)
____________________
