Karachi
Once again Karachi, which has been subjected to several transportation system experiments, is gearing up for the bus rapid transit (BRT) project.
Trees have been chopped down, excavators are working day and night, and citizens are already sceptical about the multicoloured lines project which will apparently make their lives easy.
To understand the benefits of and the challenges posed by the BRT, The Second Floor (T2F) organised a session on Thursday evening comprising panellists who discussed what the project had to offer after all.
Moderated by Summaiya Zaidi, a lawyer, the talk was opened by architect Arif Belgaumi, who is also behind the Critical Mass Karachi society.
He spoke about the need for such a system considering the leap in the city’s growth:
“In the last 10 years, the city grew by 80 percent and the people started to move outward but problems arose when there was no transport for them to reach their work, leading them to rent out their plots and move to the centre again,” he explained.
“The people got out but couldn’t get back in. This densification of inner city led to many illegal colonies like Neelum Colony, Punjab Colony etc on an ad hoc basis and part of it was generated by a lack of mass transit.”
Referring to the discrepancy in the allocation of the cost of the BRT project, Roland deSouza, an engineer and a green activist, said the cost was only inclusive of the structure to be erected.
He added that the cost incurred in elevated areas is much higher and pointed out that the plan had to be carefully devised because in many areas high voltage lines could not be relocated.
Pointing out the mass transit systems in other cities including London and New York, deSouza said in other places there was less room for profit-making:
“Here the buses and rickshaws make more money than they spend hence there is a need to create subsidy so people may benefit. In New York, many buses go half-empty because of the areas they cater to whereas a bus driver in Saddar would not touch the ignition key till the vehicle is loaded with passengers.
Everything has to be profitable here hence the transport system is in such a terrible state,” he observed.
He said the economic benefit a city derived from a good transportation system had to be given attention because it determined the cost of property anywhere but in our part of the world, even these systems were tied to political parties which sought their own gains.
He mentioned that in 2005, Rs800m was allocated by the Asian Development Bank and the Sindh government to transform the metropolis and that also included a mass transit system - which meant that the city would have had a functioning BRT in 2008 but because of a lack of consensus between the newly elected government and the city government, the ADB called off the programme and the citizens were left to suffer because of the bickering over the bigger share.
Belgaumi drew the audience’s attention to a map which showed Numaish as the major junction for several routes:
“Many people now live comparatively closer to their workplaces and don’t end up going to Saddar so it doesn’t warrant all to pass through Numaish. Concentrating all traffic on MA Jinnah Road wouldn’t be too wise,” he added
Speaking about the protection of national heritage sites, Sohail Ahmed Kalhoro, a member of an advisory committee formed under the Sindh Cultural Heritage (Preservation) Act, 1994, said the body should have been consulted because all the activity should take place at least 200 feet away from protected sites.
Belgaumi added that not just heritage sites, but the vicinity should also be equally regarded:
“We should protect what we have now. After all, we have already ruined the Jehangir Kothari Parade.”
Given that at least 1,000 vehicles are registered every day in Karachi of which 70 percent are motorcycles, Belgaumi said two-wheelers held the future of the city and the only way to prevent this would be to provide citizens with a transport system so they would use that only.
Ecologist Rafiul Haq highlighted the perils of the system related to environment and said an integrated approach was needed to address these issues because ‘plantation’ was not the only solution. He regretted that plantation drives had become very popular but only a few knew how to actually sow plants. “Many sow saplings just for the sake of it and they eventually wither away,” he added.
However deSouza said in a matter-of-fact tone that no system could survive without good governance and rule of law, and both lacked in the city.
He said that almost 10 transport systems including the Karachi Transport Corporation, the Karachi Circular Railway, the Green Bus project, and the Karachi Road Transport Corporation had failed because of these very reasons.
He also pointed out that Clifton and Defence, both dubbed as affluent areas, were not included in the system which could be problematic because those devising and investing in this also came from the other side of the bridge, and until and unless the rich and powerful were not using it, the system would not be successful like it had been in many developed countries.