KARACHI: Stones have been pelted at the newly-inaugurated Green Line bus service in Karachi at multiple points between Surjani and Numaish areas of the city, raising serious questions on the security of the multi-billion project.
This has been highlighted in a complaint filed with the police by a security manager at the Green Line bus service against unidentified assailants.
According to sources, side glasses and window panes of the buses running on the green line track were damaged in the stone-pelting incidents.
“The stones were pelted from the pedestrian bridge and damaged the infrastructure of buses,” they said, adding that, however, no passenger was hurt in the incidents.
The incidents have raised serious questions on the security being provided to the project which is claimed to be guarded with 900 CCTV cameras and 250 security personnel.
The Green Line bus service has become fully operational from Monday, with 80 buses covering a track of 21 kilometers from 6 in the morning till 10 at night. 22 bus stations have also been completed. The administration of the project said a bus will arrive at the station after every three minutes.
The door of the bus remains open for the passengers for 20 seconds at every station, the administration added.
Karachi’s Green Line BRT project with intersections is 22km long which includes 12.7km elevated, 10.9 km at grade, and 422 meters underground, and has 25 stations.
The phase-II common corridor from Gurumandir up to Municipal Park with a length of 2.5km has two underpasses at M A Jinnah Road.
The state-of-art underground bus terminal with a parking facility and the commercial mezzanine floor was also constructed at Numaish intersection.