KARACHI: Work on the second phase of the Green Line project is set to resume after officials from the Pakistan Infrastructure Development Company Limited (PIDCL) met Mayor Murtaza Wahab on Friday to address key concerns raised by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC). The meeting included PIDCL representatives and federal government spokesperson for Sindh affairs Barrister Raja Khaliq uz Zaman Ansari, who briefed the mayor on the revised plan.
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Mayor Wahab assured the delegation that construction would restart immediately and be completed within the stipulated time frame. Officials confirmed that the 1.8-kilometre stretch from Numaish Chowrangi to Municipal Park (Jamia Cloth) will feature three new bus stations and a Traffic Signal Priority (TSP) system to improve service reliability for the BRT service.
The project had been halted in September after the KMC raised concerns over PIDCL’s failure to obtain a no-objection certificate (NOC) from municipal authorities before starting work. The municipal leadership had emphasized that all urban development projects in Karachi should fall under the city’s jurisdiction.
The Green Line’s first phase, connecting Surjani Town to Numaish, was partially completed in January 2022 after almost six years, at a cost of Rs35 billion. Currently, the line serves around 80,000 passengers daily, and the extension is expected to boost ridership to 135,000 per day.
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The mayor and PIDCL officials are scheduled to formally announce the resumption of construction next week. The project, originally envisaged in 2016 with an estimated cost of Rs16.85 billion, remains a key transport initiative for Karachi, aiming to provide faster, more reliable public transit for the city’s residents.