Issues with BRT
WHILE meeting an Asian Development Bank delegation earlier this month, Sindh’s caretaker chief minister said that 180 solar-powered buses will be introduced to support the operations of the Bus Rapid…
The BRT problem
VARIOUS Pakistani leaders have made bus rapid transit or BRT projects the centre point of their political rhetoric. Often a misleading impression is created that BRT programmes will comprehensively address…
Road hazards
THE recent death of three-year-old Ibrahim, who fell into a manhole on University Road in Karachi, shook the city. Karachi residents were enraged at the apathy put on display by…
An open manhole
When I travel abroad, I often meet emigrants who are eager to share their memories of Karachi. There are conversations soaked in nostalgia. They miss the city they have left…
Karachi: inequitable NFC impact
BORN in the name of devolution, propagated as people’s rights, and celebrated as a victory for the deprived, the seventh National Finance Commission award has been nothing of the sort.…
Urban reforms
OLD and new challenges continue to haunt Karachi’s residents. Since the beginning of this year, a large number of people have died in road accidents. Families blame different cadres across…
A city’s needs
THE recent decision by the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) to promote the construction and functioning of commercial activities within domestic premises is unfortunate. In reality though, it is the…
PTI: forgotten promises
People of Pakistan in general and businessmen in particular are quite disillusioned with the performance of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) after seeing that prices of items of daily use (food, medicines,…
New expressway
THE Sindh government recently inaugurated one section of the Malir Expressway (named Shahrah-i-Bhutto) in Karachi. The total stretch of this corridor shall be 39 kilometres, connecting the M9 Motorway (read:…
Urban flooding
TAKING precautionary steps to minimise the damage wreaked on life and property seems high on the agenda of the various tiers of government in Karachi. The chief minister has held…
