64 buses on their way to Rawalpindi

Rawalpindi
As many as 64 buses will reach Rawalpindi from Karachi in three or four days. However, the Metro Bus Service will not be operational on the given date of January 30, Rawalpindi Division Commissioner and Metro Bus Project Chairman Captain (r) Zahid Saeed told ‘The News’ here on Monday.
"On January 30, we will review the Metro Bus Project of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The bus service may be operational for public by mid or end of February," Zahid Saeed claimed. "We have completed the maximum construction work on Package I, III and IV, but construction work on Package II and V was slow. We are trying to speed up construction work on Package II and V," he said.
He said that a total of 64 buses have reached Karachi on Sunday. We are bringing buses from Karachi through special trailers. “I have never given a new date for completion of the Metro Bus Project. All news items regarding the new date are baseless,” he said. He said that it was a mega project, therefore, we could not give a definite date for its completion. "The government had given us 10 months to complete the project, so we have four days left, he claimed. He said "during 10 months, we faced around two-month ‘dharna’, rains, two Eids and Ramazan-ul-Mubarak. We have completed 50% of work on installation of escalators.
He said that they have constructed a bus depot on 17 acres of land near Peshawar Morr where buses coming from Karachi would be parked. "We have paid Rs130 million to the Capital Development Authority (CDA) for the greenbelts, which were destroyed during construction work on the Metro Bus Project," he said.
He said that the Metro Bus Authority (MBA) has started hiring staff, including drivers, conductors and others for the bus service. The concerned authorities had got published advertisements in this regard, he said.
The Metro Bus Service Project, which includes a signal-free interchange at Peshawar Morr, is being completed with the objective of providing an international standard mass transit system to the residents of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. March 23 is the final date for completion of construction work on the Peshawar Morr Interchange, he said.
Metro Bus Project Monitoring and Implementation Committee Chairman Muhammad Hanif Abbasi told ‘The News’ that the project would bring a revolution in the public transport sector. He said the government had set the March 23 deadline for completion of Peshawar Morr Interchange. The National Logistic Cell (NLC) had been given two more months for completion of Peshawar Morr Interchange and 9th Avenue, he said.
The Peshawar Morr Interchange is a separate component of the project as it will provide signal-free roads for Kashmir Highway users. For this purpose, the federal government is spending Rs6.17 billion. Four underpasses will provide freeway to Metro buses between Rawalpindi and Pakistan Secretariat, he said.
Hanif Abbasi said that the government was determined to start the bus service in the shortest possible time to provide modern travel facilities to the residents of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. He said that the 24-kilometre Metro Bus Service will be signal free and the project is in final stages.
He said the contractors were trying hard to complete construction work on the project, including bus stations, in the shortest possible time. After taking over, the Metro Bus Authority would install elevators, escalators, security cameras monitors and other equipment at the command and control centre and bus stations, he said.
Reliable sources said that Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif will arrive in Rawalpindi on Tuesday (today) to check progress on the Metro Bus Service Project as he had refused to give more time to the Rawalpindi management and ordered completion of construction work on the Metro Bus Service Project till January 30.
A senior official of the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA), on condition of anonymity, told this scribe that slow pace of work on the Peshawar Morr Interchange will further delay the project. "It is likely to be completed in May or June," adding that work at the Parade Avenue site will continue till end of March.