No fresh contract awarded for Karachi Red Line Lot 2, SHC told

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court was told on Wednesday that the provincial government has not awarded any fresh contract for construction of the Mosamiyat-to-Numaish corridor, or Lot 2, of the delayed Bus Rapid Transit Red Line project.

Advocate General Sindh Jawad Dero informed a two-member constitutional bench comprising Justice Muhammad Saleem Jessar and Justice Nasir Ahmed Bhanbhro that a new contract would be awarded after the notice period of the firm previously engaged for the work was completed. He told the court that, for now, the government had only assigned work related to drainage and road rehabilitation.

The provincial government had announced last week that it had cancelled the contract of a construction company, citing lack of progress and unsatisfactory performance.

The contractors, AM Associates and CR 3, later moved the high court, stating in their petition that they had been carrying out the project when police and the district administration sealed their project site at Aladdin Park and issued a termination notice without lawful justification and in violation of the contract terms.

At an earlier hearing, the bench had appointed a nazir as commissioner to inspect the project site and prepare an inventory of the machinery there, while also issuing notices to the respondents.

Arguments before the court

When proceedings resumed on Wednesday, counsel for the petitioners, Barrister Salahuddin Ahmed, told the bench that the project had reportedly been handed over to the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO). He also said the inventory process had not yet been completed and asked that the advocate general explain under what law the government had sealed the project site.

In response, AG Dero told the court that the contractors’ office had been constructed on land belonging to the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation.

During the hearing, Justice Bhanbhro observed that University Road was one of Karachi’s main arteries and that residents were facing hardship because of the prolonged delay in work on the project. The bench suggested that a commission could be formed to determine the reasons behind the delay.

The advocate general told the court that, according to the chief executive officer of TransKarachi, the project was expected to be completed by 2028.

The bench expressed displeasure with TransKarachi over the delay and the inconvenience caused to the public. It directed the advocate general to inform the court at the next hearing about the timeline for completion of work on University Road.

Next hearing on May 4

The hearing was adjourned until May 4 after counsel for one of the respondents sought time to submit objections.

According to the petition, providing the complete design for the project was the responsibility of TransKarachi, but only 50 per cent of the design had been supplied to the contractors, who claimed they had completed 80pc of the work.

The petitioners asked the court to order the unsealing of the project site and sought an interim restraining order to stop the respondents from directly or indirectly carrying out any work or initiating any tendering process on the project. They also requested the court to appoint a nazir to prepare an inventory of all stock at the site and restrain the respondents from removing or using that material.