Sindh Senior Minister for Information and Transport Sharjeel Inam Memon on Monday announced that the Public-Private Partnership Policy Board of the provincial government has approved the procurement of 500 EV (electric vehicle) buses to further strengthen Karachi’s public transport system.
Speaking in the provincial assembly while responding to different call-attention notices, Memon said the new EV buses would operate on three routes, connecting Ittehad Town, Banaras Colony, Liaquatabad, Jahangir Road and Cantt Station.
Additional routes will also be introduced for Orangi Ghaziabad, Iqbal Market, Walika, Nazimabad No. 2, Ayesha Manzil and Zahoor Chowk, he added. He claimed that there had been no concept of EV buses in Pakistan before the Pakistan Peoples Party introduced them in the country.
He said the number of passengers on the Orange Line in Karachi has increased significantly, while new transport routes have been launched for Tando Allah Yar, Khairpur, Ranipur and Rohri. Additional routes were recently introduced from Gulshan-e-Maymar as part of the efforts to expand and modernise Sindh’s public transport network, he added.
Narcotics trade
Law and Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar vowed strict action against narcotics dealers and the “gutka mafia”, declaring that no leniency would be shown towards those involved in the trade.
Responding to a Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) MPA’s call-attention notice regarding the widespread availability of gutka and mawa, particularly in Karachi, Lanjar described drug abuse as a grave social tragedy. Police are conducting continuous operations against drug traffickers, and deserved appreciation for their efforts, he added.
He observed that gutka-related crimes are bailable offences, while some individuals falsely claim to be manufacturing “legal gutka”. He noted that areca nut, a key ingredient in gutka, is being smuggled illegally, and warned that the growing consumption of gutka in Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas and Benazirabad has contributed to a rise in oral cancer cases.
He urged the MPAs not to patronise such illegal activities, and remarked that he is fully aware of where such operations are taking place. He appealed to the lawmakers to support the government in eliminating narcotics from society, and warned that anyone found involved in the drug trade would face arrest.
Referring to the arrest of Pinky, an alleged drug queenpin, he said the authorities would also apprehend her accomplices, adding that the government does not wish to publicly expose the identities of young drug users to protect their future.
Negligence claims
Health Minister Azra Fazal Pechuho refuted the allegations of negligence at government hospitals following the death of a young cancer patient at the Dow University of Health Sciences’ Ojha Campus.
Responding to concerns raised by MQM MPA Musarrat Jabeen, Azra clarified that Imran Bacha, 22, had been afflicted with stage-four lung cancer and had not died due to a power outage or medical negligence. She said the patient had not been on a ventilator at the time of his death.
She said that several unlicensed blood banks have been shut down as part of the ongoing efforts to combat HIV/AIDS, while government hospitals, including the Ojha Campus, are gradually being shifted to solar power systems to ensure uninterrupted electric supply for intensive care units, operation theatres and ventilators.
Earlier during the PA proceedings, an adjournment motion regarding the absence of traffic police officials at the city’s traffic signals was rejected after opposition from the parliamentary affairs minister, who argued that the matter did not constitute an emergency issue.
The House also passed the Domestic Workers Welfare Bill 2025, and approved legislation for the establishment of the Benazir Institute of Urology & Transplant in Nawabshah after the relevant standing committee’s report was presented.
