Karachi: The Sindh government has decided to purchase 250 diesel hybrid electric buses for public transportation needs of residents of six districts of the province.
The recently held meeting of the Sindh cabinet with Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah in chair approved the plan of purchasing the buses under the Sindh Intra-District Peoples’ Bus Service Project.
The project will initially be implemented in the cities of Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana, Mirpurkhas, and Shaheed Benazirabad. The project will cost around Rs 8 billion. The Sindh government has already released half amount of the project’s cost.
While chairing the cabinet meeting, the CM termed it a good development for the residents of the six districts.
He assured the Sindh government’s Transport Department that the required funds would be provided to it to complete the project at the earliest.
A senior official of the Sindh Transport and Mass Transit Department told Gulf News that the process of international competitive bidding would be involved in purchasing the buses.
He said the process would take some months to fulfill the due formalities of the process.
He hoped that the project would become operational in the current year.
The official said the government after purchasing the buses would hand over them to the private sector to operate them.
Fleet increased
Just recently 10 electric passenger buses start operating in Karachi from Sohrab Goth till Native Jetty Bridge. This is the first time anywhere in Pakistan that a project of electric buses have been implemented.
Sindh Transport Minister Syed Awais Qadir Shah that the fleet of the electric buses would be increased in Karachi gradually every month.
He said the government would also complete the modern mass transit system in Karachi in the form of Bus Rapid Transit Service.
He said the Sindh government had been doing its best to facilitate the prospective investors to resolve the mass transportation problems of Karachi.
