peshawar   -  Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan on Monday approved five additional feeder routes for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Peshawar keeping in view the public demand and utility of BRT for daily commuters of the city.

He accorded the approval while chairing 13th Board of Directors meeting of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Urban Mobility Authority which was attended besides others by provincial cabinet members Taimur Jhagra, Shah Muhammad Wazir, Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, Additional Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah, Principal Secretary to CM, concerned administrative secretaries and other board members.

Newly approved feeder routes included 7.5km Hayatabad Phase 1, 12km long Regi Model Town/Nasir Bagh Road, 7km long Warsak Road, 4km long Khyber Road and 15km Chamkani to Pabbi Road.

Moreover, orders have been placed for purchasing 86 new environment friendly buses for these feeder routes. The board also decided to reduce the security fee of Zu Bicycle from Rs3000 to Rs1000, besides granting in principle approval for reducing Zu bicycle fares with the aim to encourage bicycle service and facilitate people.

The Chief Minister on the occasion directed the quarters concerned for necessary steps to make all feeder routes of BRT functional by June this year. All relevant entities, he said, would have to fulfil their respective responsibilities well in time for the purpose.

Mahmood Khan said that the provincial government was going all-out to facilitate the citizens adding that with the passage of time, BRT service would be extended to remaining areas of Peshawar in order to connect them with the city through BRT service. He said that extension of BRT to more areas was necessary to reduce the environmental pollution in the city and the provincial government would provide required financial resources on priority for the purpose.