"There should be no cost of land provision; instead cost of compensation would be made available to be paid as per actual. The provision of Rs 500 million should be reduced to Rs 250 million. In case cost of land is required to be paid, then this cost should be met by the Sindh government," the sources quoted Chairman ECNEC as saying in the meeting.
The meeting was informed that the project envisaged the construction of 17.80km-long (14.35km at grade and 3.45 km elevated) a 02-lane dedicated signal-free, Bus Rapid Transit System at Karachi. The proposed corridor would be capable of accommodating buses running both ways with stations in the centre of the median in both at-grade and elevated sections which would help in running the buses at the average speed of 25km per hour with high capacity of 29,400 passengers per hour per direction.
The project would commence from Municipal Park in Saddar en-route M.A Jinnah Road, Business Recorder Road, Nawab Siddique Ali Khan Road, Shahrah-e-Shershah Suri, Shahrah-e-Usman and would end at KESC Power House Chowrangi in Surjani Town. The project has been taken up as a result of detailed feasibility study carried out by Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) in 2012. The proposed corridor, after completion, would benefit nearly 400,000 passengers per day.
The proposed scope of work would comprise civil works, pavement structures, including construction of new roads, flyovers, pedestrian bridges, demolition of existing roads/structures (where required), provision of bus stations/buildings with allied facilities. The scope of work would also include provision of a bus depot for which land has been provided by Sindh government free of cost, provision of drainage & erosion works besides slope protection, electrical & mechanical works including provision of street lights, generators, escalators, lifts, platform screen doors, miscellaneous and ancillary works/ amenities for passenger convenience and road furniture.
The project, being provincial in nature, was initially taken up by the Sindh government and it prepared the PC-I at an estimated cost of Rs 21 billion for implementation by its Transport & Mass Transit Department. Later on, as per the directions of the government, the task was assigned to the Ministry of Communications for preparation/ up-gradation of PC-I and speedy execution of the project. Full funding was to be provided by the Federal Government on the directions of the Prime Minister during his visit to Karachi in July, 2014.
The CDWP recommended the project for consideration by ECNEC subject to rationalisation / review of the scope and cost by a committee co-chaired by Member (I&RC), Member (I&M) and Member (Energy), Planning Commission and comprising Chief T&C, Chief EA Sections of the Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform, Joint Secretary (Development), Finance Division and representatives of the Ministry of Communications, NHA, Sindh government and NESPAK. The cost of articulated buses and its system would be excluded from the project cost. The architectural design of the stations would be aligned with the local architecture and culture of the Karachi city.
In compliance with CDWP decision, a post-CDWP meeting was held in the Planning Commission under the chairmanship of Member (Energy). After detailed deliberations and discussions, the following recommendations were made: (i) the length of the elevated portion was reduced from 6.62 km to 3.45 km owing to duplication in blue line, which is in the process of development by a private developer and accordingly the cost of the elevated portion should be worked out and provided by the sponsors; (ii) the cost of 105 articulated buses (Rs 4,848,972 million) along with Intelligent Ticketing System (ITS) of Rs 1,167.329 million in the project should be excluded from the cost estimates as decided by the CDWP; (iii) the cost of relocation of utilities would be reduced from Rs 1,000 million to Rs 500 million; (iv) there would be no cost of land provision; instead cost of compensation would be made available to be paid as per actual. The provision of Rs 500 million should be reduced to Rs 250 million. In case cost of land is required to be paid, then this cost should be met by Sindh government; (v) a component-wise unit cost comparison of the Metro Bus System in Rawalpindi-Islamabad and the instant green line project should be worked out by the sponsors; ( vi) cost of contingencies @ 5% of construction cost of infrastructure works was on high which should be reduced to 3% and ;(v) cost of establishment charges @ 2% of construction cost should be reduced to 1%;(vi) the project was submitted for consideration of ECNEC at the rationalised cost of Rs 16.085 billion without FEC.