Chinese authorities, in principle, have approved the inclusion of three important projects of province of Sindh viz. Karachi Circular Railway, Keti Bandar Power Park and special jetty and Special Economic Zone Dhabeji in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The decision in this regard was made in the 6th CPEC-related Joint Co-operation Committee (JCC) meeting in Chinese capital city Beijing where Sindh chief minister Murad Ali Shah led provincial government's delegation. Chinese delegation was led by vice chairman Wang Xiaotao. Sindh's delegation also included Industries Minister Manzoor Wassan, Transport Minister Nasir Shah, ACS (Dev) Waseem, Energy Secretary Agha Wasif, Secretary Transport Taha Farooqui and others.
Murad Shah told the JCC meeting that Karachi is one of the most populated cities of the world. In 2016, its population was estimated at around 25.1 million which was more as compared to respective population of Tokyo, Guangzhou, Seoul, Delhi, Mumbai, Mexico City, New York, Sao Paulo, Manila and Jakarta. The population of the city would touch 34.3 million in 2030 hence any invest in Karachi would benefit the investors.
Chief Minister said that there were 3.9 million registered vehicles in Karachi. Some 24 million trips are generated daily, 42 percent are catered by public transport employing 4.5 percent of the registered vehicles. There are 6,457 buses of various sizes on 192 routes. Apart from them, there are 2,715 contract carriages such as buses and coaches. He said some 85 percent or 5,400 buses are more than 2 years old which means fuel consumption is high and services are poor.
On traffic volume and occupancy rate, the chief minister said that 4.5 percent of total vehicles (public transport) carry 42 percent passengers. 36.5 percent of total vehicles (private) carry only 21 percent commuters. On KCR, he said, there was high public demand with ample rider-ship of 700,000 per day. The project was approved by ECNEC; its feasibility study was conducted for which third party validation of feasibility study was also completed. Its environmental impact assessment (EIA) was also done, relocation of utility services are not required, K-Electric has assured uninterrupted power supply.
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