KARACHI: A petition was filed in the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday against the cutting down of hundreds of trees in Karachi to make way for the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) Red Line project.
The petition nominated Karachi administrator Barrister Murtaza Wahab and the provincial government as respondents.
The petition read hundreds of old trees were cut down in the jurisdiction of the Malir Cantonment Board (CBM) to make way for the project. Overall 50,000 trees would be cut down on the route.
”The Sindh government recently started construction work on Karachi’s Red Line BRT project and in the first phase, the route from Tank Chowk near Malir Halt to Safoora Chowrangi will be completed. The transport authorities recently cut down trees in the jurisdiction of CBM for the BRT project and also plan to cut around 50,000 trees for the 26-km project ending at Numaish Chowrangi,” it added.
The applicants urged the high court to stop the government from cutting more trees as the step will further increase the temperature in the city already facing severe heat waves.
Recently, TransKarachi, a public company set up by the Sindh government to carry out the project implementation of the project, has initiated a tree plantation drive across Karachi.
The government recently started construction work on Karachi’s Red Line BRT project, according to TransKarachi — the operator of the project.
In the first phase, the route from Tank Chowk near Malir Halt to Safoora Chowrangi will be completed.
The Red Line will span 26 km from Safoora to Tower. It is expected to have an average daily ridership of 625,000 passengers.
The route of the 26-kilometre project will connect Model Colony to Johar Complex en route Jinnah Avenue and Malir Cantt while the buses will run through University Road, Hassan Square and Numaish roundabout.
24 stations would be constructed on this line which will run from Malir Halt to Numaish via Model Colony, Safoora Goth, King Cottages, Met Office, NED University, Safari Park, Nipa, Urdu University, Masjid Baitul Mukarram, Civic Centre, Askari Park, Dawood University and Society Office.
A biogas plant will be installed on 31-acre land in the Bhens Colony area of Karachi, which will be used for fulfilling the fuel needs of the bus service.
The $504 million project is sponsored by Sindh, with assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and co-financiers, including the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the French Agency for Development (AFD), and the Green Climate Fund (GCF).
