Daily Times

KARACHI: Rs 16.85 billion worth Karachi’s Green Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project would not possess adequate and proper public toileting facilities, Daily Times learnt.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif inaugurated the stone-laying ceremony of the Green Line on February 26. The project objectives include improving the quality of traveling of estimated 300,000 commuters a day to this particular route.

The federal government funded Green Line service route as part of the Bus Rapid Transit Service (BRTS), which had initially been planned from Surjani Town to Gurumandir but now it would be extended upto Merewether Tower.

Karachi, which is one of the most populated cities, always lacks in public toilet facilities. There are no such facility in markets, parks and other places. According to UNICEF, 41 million people in Pakistan do not have access to a public toilet, forcing them to defecate openly. In most of the cases, there are significant health and nutritional consequences. Some three million Pakistanis face infections from waterborne diseases every year whereas children are especially affected by the illnesses such as diarrhoea, which is often caused by unsafe water and inadequate sanitation, which kills more under-fives around the world than AIDS, malaria and measles combined.

As per original plan, Green Line track had total 22 passenger service stations between Surjani Town and Gurumandir, in 18 kilometres long distance. But not all 22 service stations would have public toilet facilities due to issues pertaining to availability of space, provision of water and sewerage networks, said an official of EA Consultants (Pvt) Ltd, which has designed the Green Line for Karachi Infrastructure Development Company Limited (KIDCL), and is responsible for the building and execution of the Green Line project.

EA Consulting Pvt Ltd Head of Operations and Projects Director Tanveer Ahmed Khan while talking to Daily Times said, “In principal, we have agreed to provide public toilets wherever it is possible but I can’t tell at the moment how many stations would be provided with public toilets out of 22 stations”. He said that what I can confirm is that not all stations would have the facility of public toilets”.

According to Khan, there are issues related to sewerage network, provision of water and positioning of public toilets. Khan said that in elevated structures, it would be hard to find a space for a public toilet since its availability is a big issue. Out of 22 stations, there are 14 elevators structures.

He said, “We would try to build such facility in case we have access of ground-route in between the route but we cannot provide public toilets at all elevated structures. For example, at Surjani and Guru Mandir, it would be hard to find a place under elevator stations”.

According to Khan, other issues pertaining with the provision of toilets are with the disposal of sewerage. He said, “Water system and disposal are other problems attached to it. For example, if we had to provide sewerage line on a structure that is near road, we would have to cut the road”.