Emergency funding approved to accelerate work on Red Line

KARACHI: The Sindh cabinet on Thursday approved off-budget emergency funding to Trans Karachi, enabling the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) to accelerate construction on the long-delayed Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Red Line project. The FWO was awarded the contract for Lot 2, a 12.85-kilometre stretch from Numaish Chowrangi to Mosamiyat, after the previous joint-venture contractor was terminated for persistent delays and non-compliance. The cabinet authorised the direct engagement of FWO under a government-to-government arrangement. A 90-day deadline has been set to complete mixed-traffic lanes, underpasses, elevated structures, and drainage networks along University Road. According to a statement issued by the CM House, the FWO has already deployed personnel and heavy machinery to commence work, aiming to provide rapid relief and restore the corridor. Sindh cabinet also okays draft law on regulating JPMC, NICH management Later, while briefing the media on the cabinet decisions at a press conference, Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said that the Sindh government had established 10 centres for children with autism across the province, and that the federal government was seeking assistance to set up a similar facility in Islamabad. He said that a memorandum of understanding had been signed between the federal and provincial governments for technical support. In response to questions, the senior minister said that the Sindh government had sufficient wheat stocks and that wheat prices in Sindh were lower than those in Punjab. He said that Sindh had recorded a bumper wheat harvest this year, owing to effective policies of the provincial government and support for farmers through the Benazir Hari Card. “The Sindh Cabinet has ordered strict action against wheat hoarding, restricted inter-provincial movement, and directed the Food Department to take action against hoarders,” he added. The senior minister said that the cabinet had also approved several development and admin