Karachi: The federal government on Tuesday pledged to provide funds for the development of five mega projects under the ‘PM’s Karachi Transformation Plan’ recently announced for the city, a news source reported. In this regard, the Ministry of Planning, Development, & Special Initiatives shared the details of the plan devised for the development of Karachi’s infrastructure.
Under the PM’s Karachi Transformation Plan, the federal government has committed to providing finances for the following initiatives:
Karachi Circular Railway (KCR)
Greater Karachi Water Supply Project (K-IV)
Greenline BRT
Railway Freight Corridor
Rehabilitation of rivers, nullahs, and storm water drains, along with resettlement of affected people
As per the detailed revealed, the total cost of these projects amounts to PKR 736 billion out of which the centre has committed to providing an estimated PKR 611 billion. Meanwhile, the provincial government is expected to provide PKR 375 billion.
In a related development, the federal government has announced its decision to request the Supreme Court (SC) to allow the partial utilisation of the Bahria Town Settlement Fund.
Due to railways being a federal subject, along with SC’s directions on the project, the federal government is now duty-bound to execute the KCR project. Therefore, the centre will have the responsibility of bearing the financial cost of this initiative.
Sources said that the centre sought to work together with the Sindh government for the development of Karachi. They added that the details of federal and provincial responsibilities were shared to remove ambiguities.
Minister for Planning & Development Asad Umar has directed the officials concerned to prepare time-bound action plans for the implementation of their respective projects. He also instructed them to seek approvals or NOCs from the provincial government where required.
