Mystery shrouds fate of Quetta Green Bus scheme
Green buses parked at PDMA's warehouse: Photo Manan Mandokhail

Syed Ali Shah:

QUETTA: The mystery continues to shroud the much-touted Quetta Green Bus scheme contrary to the claims of the Balochistan government. The Balochistan government under the former Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan had approved the project in the budget for the financial year 2020-21 to provide decent transportation to the masses.

The images and video of green buses parked at the warehouse of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) went viral on social media. Fear of transporters, the government has not been able to bring buses on roads to facilitate the masses, most people on social media claimed.

The previous government had not mentioned the method of operating the buses in the project, and a senior official of the CM Secretariat responded. “How many drivers would be hired, fuel, and who will operate”, he said. These questions need to be answered, he added. The official requested anonymity.

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“The former government pointed out no routes”, the spokesman chief minister secretariat said.

The campaign on social media prompted the spokesman chief minister’s secretariat government of Balochistan to clarify its position and said the previous introduced the project without any proper feasibility report. “The former government pointed out no routes”, the spokesman chief minister secretariat said.

Former Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan also took to social media network Twitter and said that the project was prepared and approved to provide decent transportation to the masses.

Sources within the transport department said the previous government had approved the Quetta Green Bus Project to provide decent transportation to the masses. Initially, the government proposed the purchase of 100 green buses to address the transportation issue of citizens, a well-placed official at the provincial transport department told this scribe.

4 buses each operate till Belili and Sariab from city

However, he explained after thorough deliberations, the government decided to purchase 8 buses to facilitate the masses. As per the pilot project, four buses would operate from Serena Chowk Quetta to Belili and Four buses would operate till Sariab Customs, the officer mentioned.

The spokesman CM Secretariat nevertheless mentioned that the buses arrived on June 29th and the secretary of transport was sending a summary to the chief minister for approval in this regard.

In scorching heat, all the buses have been parked at the PDMA’s office in the Chashma Achozai area.

The transport officer informed that initially the transporters community had expressed reservations about the project. However, the transporters were convinced after a thorough discussion with officials, the officer concluded.

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The author is Editor In Chief of Quetta Voice. He belongs to Quetta and has worked with CNN, Al Jazeera, Dawn News and other media outlets.