KARACHI (Dunya News) – Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar has confirmed that the federal government will expand every possible cooperation to the Sindh government to remove its objections to the island issue.
He spoke with reporters in Karachi after inaugurating the GL-16 development project at the Numaish Chowrangi Underpass together with Sindh Governor Imran Ismail.
Federal Minister Asad Umar said the Sindh Government should make use of the Rs 700 billion that has been allocated in the provincial budget for projects in Karachi.
He said this when talking with the media after revealing the plaque commemorating the laying of the BRT Common Corridor groundbreaking stone from the Taj Medical Complex to City Park along Jalan MAJinnah here.
The Federal Minister and the Governor of Sindh Imran Ismail also inaugurated a plaque commemorating the opening of the Grade Works Common Corridor Underground BRT facility on Jalan Naumaish MAJinnah Road.
The Federal Minister said that the Green Line project will be an important milestone for the modern transportation system in Karachi and the Green Line project is expected to be completed by the middle of next year. Asad Umar said the public will see the Green Line on the highway in the middle of 2021.
He also appreciated Sindh Infrastructure Development Company Limited (SIDCL) and the Development Planning Division and Special Initiatives for their hard work and dedication in implementing the Green Line project.
Speaking about the Karachi Transformation Plan, Asad Umar said that good progress has been made on all the projects in Karachi which are the responsibility of the federal government and that fast work is being done on the K-4 project, two railway projects, KCR and Freight. Corridor from Karachi Port to Pippri. The Green Line project is in the final stages of implementation, he added.
He said that drainage cleaning work in Karachi was also underway to permanently solve the problem of removing water after rain. Encroachment had been removed in the early stages of clearing the nullah that the Sindh Government of Mehmoodabad had begun working on, he said.
As soon as encroachment is removed from the Prophet, the Federal government will launch work on it, Asad Umar added. On the occasion, the Governor of Sindh Imran Ismail said that the inauguration of Sindh’s first mass transit project would take place between July and September 2021 and Prime Minister Imran Khan, as promised, was expected to carry out the inauguration in Karachi.
Regarding the project, he said together with Asad Umar opened the Grade Works Common Corridor Underground BRT facility on Jalan Naumaish MAJinnah and groundbreaking the BRT Common Corridor from Taj Medical Complex to Municipal Park along Jalan MAJinnah here today.
These projects are part of the Rs 1.1 trillion Karachi Transformation Plan planned by PM Imran Khan, he said. He said that fast work was being done on all the projects that the Federal Government had to carry out in Karachi. The K-4 Water project was submitted to WAPDA. WAPDA will soon submit its report to the Prime Minister on this matter, he added.
Imran Ismail said that the process of hiring a consultant on the K-4 project has been completed and the K-4 will be a major water supply project that will help meet Karachi’s water needs.
Imran Ismail said the Green Line project is a project that has been eagerly awaited and after completion the Orange Line and Blue Line projects will also be launched.
He said that he wanted to tell the Karachi people on behalf of Prime Minister Imran Khan that the Prime Minister was worried about the people in the port city and he was very interested in the work of building Karachi to facilitate the masses. PM Imran Khan regularly sends Federal Minister Asad Umar to Karachi to review the progress of the ongoing development work, he added.
He also congratulated SIDCL for the dedication, tireless efforts and dedication shown in the implementation of the development work. The element of transparency which he said was Prime Minister Imran Khan’s dream was mainly maintained in the implementation of these projects.
He said he was very grateful to PM Imran Khan and Federal Minister Asad Umar for taking a personal interest in Karachi development projects.
To the question, Asad Umar said that no practical development work was done in Karachi in the past but that now work is being done on K-4, KCR, cleaning the nullahs and other projects.
He told another questioner that the Karachi Circular Railway (KCR), was a Modern Transportation Project worth Rs 300 billion.
The Federal Minister told an questioner that around Rs 200 including Rs 65 billion in Sindh had been distributed among needy, poor and deserving people through the Ehsaas Program.
Talking about the construction of the two islands, Bundoo and Bundal, he said the issue was being discussed with the Sindh Government and that development work would be carried out in Sindh and the people out there would get the results from it.
It should be noted here that the Grade Road Works of the Common Corridor Underground BRT facility at Jalan Naumaish MAJinnah has three lanes in each direction, 1.3 kilometers long and 30 meters wide including service and connecting roads, sidewalks, lampposts, decorative posts, median fences and the horticultural belt was completed at a cost of Rs 425 million in about two years.
The laying of the groundwork for the BRT Public Corridor from the Taj Medical Complex to the City Park along Jalan MAJinnah here was also carried out in the context of carrying out work on the 1.8 kilometer long, five meter wide and 200 meter long corridor which is scheduled for completion in March. 2022 at a cost of Rs 2.26 billion.
