Work on Karachi's Numaish-Mosamiyat section of BRT still a month away

Work on Karachi's Numaish-Mosamiyat section of BRT still a month away

• Officials say contract for construction of Red Line Lot-2 will be finalised in four weeks • 18-month deadline set for completion of the section once the contract awarded KARACHI: After remaining stalled for nearly six months, the longest and one of the most crucial stretches of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Red Line project has finally moved a step closer to resuming work, with the first phase of bidding for the delayed contract completed. The Sindh government had can­c­elled the contract for the 12.8-kilometre stretch, from Numaish to Mosamiyat, known as Lot 2, in April amid mounting concerns over the project’s prolonged delay, which has already kept commuters and residents dealing with construction-rela­ted disruptions for more than five years. TransKarachi, the implementing agency of the project, comp­let­ed the bidding process for the “structural works under the Karachi BRT Red Line Project,” that included elevated U-turns, flyovers, underpasses and BRT lanes. A TransKarachi spokesperson confirmed that the bidding was for the same Lot-2 section of the project that had been cancelled by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on April 21 “due to delays in the project’s execution by the contractor”. When asked why it had taken nearly six months to complete the bidding, the TransKarachi official said it was “not a delay as such” but a process being followed under the guidelines of the project’s financier, the Asian Dev­e­l­opment Bank (ADB). He said all the required steps had been completed before moving forward with the tendering process. “The work on Lot 1, which comprises a 9.4-kilometre stretch from Malir Halt to Mosamiyat, is currently under way. It includes grade-separated structures such as underpasses, flyovers and elevated U-turns, along with six stations and two depots,” the official said. “The contract for Lot 2, a 12.8-kilometre stretch from Num­a­ish to Mosamiyat, includes grade-separated structures and 16 stations. Bids for the Lot 2 were submitted on Oct 8 and will now be evaluated and shortlisted. The process, including finalisation and contract award, is expected to be completed within a month,” he added. The suspension of work on a key section of the project for the past six months came into focus in recent days when a man was killed when an elevated structure of the long-delayed project collapsed on University Road. After the incident, TransKarachi had said that work on the sites had remained suspended since the previous contract was cancelled in April. Launched in March 2022, the ADB-funded project was estimated to complete within 30 months after its ground-breaking. It is part of the Karachi Breeze — a plan of some 112.9 kilometres long BRT projects with five dedicated bus tracks. However, so far only Green Line’s Phase I and Orange Line could be made operational. With the project facing intermittent hiccups, questions remain about whether the deadline can be met, which, according to TransKarachi, has now been set for June 2028. “Once the contract is awarded for Lot-2, an 18-month deadline will be set for completion of the particular stretch,” said the official. “For Lot-1, December 2026 has been set as the deadline for completion of its main corridor while the stretch to Malir Halt is expe­cted to be completed by April 2027. The Bagh-i-Karachi [formerly known as Aladin Park] section is scheduled for completion by July 2027,” the official added. Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2026