PESHAWAR: Terming any offer by federal government for establishing metro bus system in Peshawar unfeasible, Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak asked the federal government to grant on lease the surplus land of Pakistan Railways alongside the railway track from Chamkani to Hayatabad for the Mass Transit Transport Service.
Responding to a cut motion moved by MPA Bakht Baidar at the Assembly floor Monday, the Chief Minister also floated a new proposal for connecting four districts of Peshawar, Charsadda, Nowshera and Mardan through fast track railway system by utilizing the existing redundant railway track and said a survey for feasibility of the proposed project would be started soon.
He said that the proposed fast track rail service would be the best option for providing rapid and economical travelling services to the commuters of the four districts. He added that if federal government agrees, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government was ready to complete the proposed project from its own resources. Ruling out any possibility to consider metro bus project for Peshawar, he said that the provincial government was unable to afford a heavy cost of over 45 billion for metro bus besides the recurring cost of 4-5 billion subsidy every year.
The Chief Minister told that the provincial government had prepared feasibility of 25 kilometer Chamkani- Hayatabad Mass Transit Project which would hardly cost 10 to 12 billion rupees and would prove more beneficial for providing better transport facilities between Chamkani and Hayatabad. He said the provincial government had approached the federal government time and again to acquire the Railways’ land on lease but the federal government failed to respond properly to our request.
INP