KARACHI – Sindh’s government’s rampantnegligence towards infrastructure problems of Karachi and the persistingstate of disrepair in various parts of the city drew Chief Justice ofPakistan Justice Gulzar Ahmed’s ire here on Friday.
The CJP’s remarks came as a Supreme Court bench heard the case regardingrevival of Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) at its Karachi registry. JusticeGulzar Ahmed presided over the bench.
The advocate general Sindh, the attorney general, the chief secretary Sindhand the railways secretary, among others, were present for the hearing.During the proceedings, the advocate general presented a copy of theKarachi Master Plan for the court’s review.
Sindh AG informed the court that Green Line Bus Rapid Transit project andOrange Line have been completed, while remaining projects are underconstruction. “The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank are providingfunding for these projects,” he stated before the court.
“The work should reflect the plans and maps you have handed over to us,”the chief justice said as it was clear he was not satisfied with theproject’s scope. “This isn’t a forward-looking transport plan. Seemingly,you just wanted to spend money, distribute funds,” the chief justiceremarked.
“We should shut these projects down if that is so,” the advocate generalmade an offer reacting to which the CJP said, “It doesn’t seem like youunderstand what we’re saying.”
The officials, defending the time it took to complete the project, told thecourt that work on the Green Line had kicked off three years ago,highlighting that the project stretched from Surjani Town to Numaish.
“You could have laid roads over all of Asia in three years,” Justice Gulzarretorted and asked, “You had the money and the people: why wasn’t theproject wrapped up within a year?”
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Speaking about the Orange Line project, the advocate general promised thatthe service would be made operational by next year. “Why not next month?”the chief justice asked. “It seems as if you do not pay the contractors. Goto Nazimabad, it seems like no work is being done [on the project] there,”he said.
“The parties [responsible for the project] keep changing all the time. Youkeep showing us these wonderful visions of the future and have turned thelives [of people living in those areas] into a living hell meanwhile,”Justice Gulzar said. “You’re fiddling as people die.”
“The Qingqi [rickshaws] have started running on the streets again. They’llturn all your transport projects to dust,” he noted. “There’s hundreds ofthousands of motorcycles on the streets.”
“University Road is a big joke; Shaheed-e-Millat Road used to be a sightonce upon a time.”
“We are working. The Green Line and the Orange Line will be madeoperational soon,” the AG Sindh promised and claimed the Red Line will bemade operational by August 14.
“And what about the Blue and Purple Lines?” asked the chief justice as theAG responded by saying, “We are not working on those at the moment.” TheCJP said, “It seemed you all do not work till someone stands bearing astick over your head. Please work for the country.”
