No progress: Encroachments yet to be removed from Malir 15 flyover

KARACHI:

Despite holding several meetings, the city administration has failed to construct an alternate route at Malir 15 as encroachments prove harder to destroy than initially thought.

The Noorani mosque and other encroachments in the area have often caused traffic to come to a standstill in the area as the construction of the flyover is also delayed.

"An encroachment drive was scheduled to begin in the first week of July," said Karachi Metropolitan Corporation technical services director, Niaz Ahmed Soomro. "However, after meeting with the mosque's administration, the drive has now been postponed till after Eid. We are aware that people are suffering due to our inability to create an alternate route and are doing our best to provide a solution for them." Soomro said that the mosque's administration has agreed to remove a chunk of the mosque to make way for the flyovers, rather than allowing KMC to bring down the entire mosque. "In return, the KMC will renovate the mosque with its own resources."

Background

The Noorani mosque was built in the late 90s. The mosque's administration had earlier refused to relocate the mosque but had then relented and agreed to remove the parts that are coming in the way.  However, certain officials were not satisfied with the deal struck between the mosque and the KMC.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 14^th, 2014.