KARACHI, Dec 20 (APP): Sindh Minister for Information, Transport and Mass Transit Sharjeel Inam Memon on Tuesday said that an electric taxi service would start in the city soon by Sindh Mass Transit Authority with the launch of women-specific ‘Pink Taxi’ in the first phase.
The minister, while talking to the media at the Sindh Assembly, here, informed that technical approval of the project had been granted under which the electric vehicles equipped with monitoring systems and cameras would provide cheap, safe and comfortable service to women commuters in Karachi.
In the first of the two phases, the service would start with the pink taxi, exclusively allocated for women, while drivers of the service would also be women.
In the second phase, the blue service would be rolled out, he added.
On directives of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, measures were being taken for improving the public transport system in the province, he said, also adding that 10 acres of land had been allocated for the Red Line BRT Bus Depot in Ala Din Park.
Resolution of bus depot issue would lead to the settlement of certain matters pertaining to project with the Asian Development Bank, he added.
The orange line has already been launched and work was underway to connect it with the Green Line, while international tender for the Yellow Line had been floated, he said, adding that its preliminary work would start soon with the construction of a new bridge parallel to Jam Sadiq Bridge.
He said that after the success of the Peoples Bus Service in Karachi, Larkana and Hyderabad, it was being extended to Sukkur as well.
On a media query, Sharjeel Memon said that though street crimes occur all over the world, the Karachi Police was working enthusiastically to control street crime and overall situation in Karachi had improved and was better than the past.
The Sindh government had allocated 100% funds for the Safe City project in the current budget and work on the project is underway, he said.
To another question, he said the matter of illegal immigrants would be dealt with as per international laws and practices and illegal residents would be expelled from the country as law of the land does not allow any foreigner to live inside its territories illegally or buy land.
Police are cracking down on illegal immigrants and many arrests have been made, he informed and said that action will be taken against them according to law if illegal residents were found to be involved in street crime and they will be evicted.
APP/ali
