‘Sindh-Centre talks under way to complete Green Line project’

Sindh’s governor said on Monday that talks between the Sindh and federal governments are under way to ensure the early completion of the Green Line section of the bus rapid transit project being built in Karachi with the Centre’s funding.

Imran Ismail made this statement during a top-level meeting that he chaired at the Governor House on the Sindh Infrastructure Development Company Limited (SIDCL) and the Karachi Transformation Committee.

He said the PC-I (project cycle-I, which deals with identification and preparation) is being prepared to finalise development projects in other districts of the province that will also be funded by the federal government. The governor said the construction of six flyovers in Karachi’s District Central along the route of the Green Line project and the reconstruction of Manghopir and Nishtar roads will be completed with the Centre’s financial assistance by next month.

He said Prime Minister Imran Khan has been requested to visit the city next month so he can personally inaugurate these development projects funded by the Centre.

Ismail said that more such federally-funded development projects in the city will be conceived and completed so that the locals can get state-of-the-art civic facilities on a par with residents of modern cities.

He added that the PM has been working on his vision to develop Karachi and ensure its progress while duly considering the provincial capital as being the economic hub of the country.

He said the premier has especially asked Federal Minister for Planning, Development & Special Initiatives Asad Umar to take whatever steps are required to ensure the city’s development. Umar, who co-chaired the meeting with Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi, said efforts are under way on the PM’s special directives to ensure the city’s development so that its standard of living is upgraded to meet world-class level.

He said that a series of relevant meetings have been held at the Governor House, adding that his ministry will lend all-out support to develop Karachi and to ensure its progress.

The meeting was briefed by SIDCL officials on the Centre-funded development projects being built in the city. They reviewed their progress and also considered different proposals to expedite their pace.

Moreover, they discussed other issues related to the development of the province and the installation of reverse-osmosis water filtration plants in the city for ensuring the facility of potable water to the residents.

The meeting was also attended by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA Aftab Siddiqui, PTI-backed Sindh Assembly opposition leader Firdous Shamim Naqvi and the party’s MPAs Khurrum Sher Zaman and Haleem Adil Sheikh.

Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar — who is affiliated with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, a reluctant coalition partner of the PTI-led federal government — skipped the meeting. The last such meeting he had attended at the Governor House was on January 1.