KARACHI: Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said the government plans to link the Orange and Green Line bus services with the SITE industrial area to help workers travel more easily.
During a visit to the SITE Association of Industry, he met with senior members and industrialists. A press release stated that the minister promised to arrange a meeting between SITE members and the Sindh chief minister soon to discuss industry-related issues.
He described the business community as valuable to the province and noted that Sindh’s public-private partnership model has been recognized at the federal level.
The minister announced that heavy traffic will be allowed on the Lyari Expressway from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. He also shared that the second phase of the Malir Expressway, called Shahrah-e-Bhutto, will open up to Quaidabad in the next two weeks. He updated the members on the progress of bus rapid transit projects.
He mentioned that vehicles registered in Lasbela must now be registered in Karachi, and fitness certification is being outsourced. The government has set up four centers for heavy vehicles and has impounded 1,500 vehicles due to fitness issues.
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The minister said the Northern Bypass is the best way to manage heavy traffic in Karachi. He added that, along with allowing heavy traffic on the Lyari Expressway at night, other steps will be taken to help heavy traffic move through the city quickly.
He called the loadshedding by K-Electric unfair to Karachi’s people and said it goes against the Constitution. He also invited the business community to invest in the Dhabeji Industrial Zone.
SITE President Ahmed Azeem Alvi welcomed the minister and asked for the SITE area to be connected to the railway network. Patron-in-Chief Zubair Motiwala praised the provincial government for introducing electric vehicle (EV) buses. He said Karachi drives the national economy, contributing 90 percent of Sindh’s revenue, while the rest of the province contributes 10 percent to the Sindh Revenue Board.
He stressed the need to finish University Road quickly to reduce public inconvenience. Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry President Jawed Bilwani, a former SITE Association president, said only Karachi-registered vehicles should be allowed on city roads.
He also called for the revival of the Karachi Circular Railways (KCR), noting that train travel was safe in the past. Tariq Yousuf, Younus Bashir, Majyd Aziz, Abdul Hadi, and Anwer Aziz also shared their views during the meeting.
In another event, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah led a progress review meeting on the Shahrah-e-Bhutto project at CM House. He announced that a key section of the expressway will open soon after Eidul Azha.
The meeting included Senior Minister Sharjeel Memon, Special Assistant to CM Syed Qasim Naveed, Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab, Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah, Principal Secretary to CM Agha Wasif, Secretary Local Government Waseem, Secretary Transport Asad Zamin, Project Director Shahrah-e-Bhutto Niaz Soomro, and others.
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The chief minister was updated on the project’s progress. The section from Shah Faisal Colony to Quaidabad Interchange is almost complete and will open to traffic after Eid, as decided by the CM.
The section from Jam Sadiq to Shah Faisal was previously opened by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto. About 50 percent of the work at the Jam Sadiq bridge entrance is done, with the rest to be completed after the Yellow Line infrastructure is finished.
The EBM Interchange is fully complete, and the south portion of the Quaidabad Interchange is 98 percent complete. A briefing on the four-kilometer elevated expressway at Sumo Goth noted that 556 piles are needed (517 installed, 39 remaining) and 1,380 girders are required (520 installed, 860 remaining). About 44.4 percent of the elevated expressway at Sumo Goth is complete.
