The CNG buses of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) purchased at a cost of Rs 1 billion have been rusting at Surjani bus terminal and the rulers of Sindh government, as per their traditional governance style, are least concerned about the wastage of the taxpayers’ money and inconvenience faced by the commuters of Karachi.
Five years back, a fleet of 95 brand new CNG buses was purchased for about Rs 1 billion to reduce problems of Karachi commuters, but the fate of this urban transport project, was not different from that of other failed public transport projects of Karachi, including Karachi Circular Railway (KCR), Karachi Transport Corporation (KTC) and Green buses project.
Out of the 75 buses, two buses have already been damaged beyond repair and the rest 73 have been parked at Surjani bus terminal for about two years. The tyres, engines and other parts of many of these buses have already been stolen and the corrupt elements at the highest level are trying to get these buses non-repairable and sell them as junk to some well-connected private transporters, sources said.
The KMC sources added that the provincial government was not releasing funds for repair of these buses; however, other sources said it a big scandal as how come that new buses needed major repair in just two years. They said corrupt elements in both the KMC and provincial government would be exposed if an inquiry and audit was initiated into mismanagement of the CNG bus pilot project, and both the KMC and provincial government wanted to keep this issue under the carpet.
However, the ultimate sufferers are commuters of Karachi who face acute shortage of public transport in the city, which is now known in the world as a Chingchi city. It is desirable to conduct an impartial third-party inquiry and audit to unearth the corrupt elements, besides taking urgent steps to ply these buses again on the city roads.
