Construction of Korangi Crossing flyover begins amid traffic jams

IoBM students to take alternative route to institution

KARACHI: The construction of the Korangi Crossing flyover has finally started and, with all incomplete projects in the city, it kicked off with massive traffic jams.

The main road, which is frequented mostly by students and teachers of the Institute of Business Administration (IoBM), has been closed for traffic at the Indus Hospital intersection.

The traffic diversion plan was prepared by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and the construction company working on the site but severe traffic jams were seen on Monday, especially during rush hours.



"We fear that we may be delayed for classes if the traffic situation does not improve," said IoBM student Taqi, who added that their university informed them about the diversion plan so they knew which route to take. "Traffic [jams] is the only problem," he said.

A rickshaw driver, Jamshed, shared the inconvenience caused by such projects. "Construction work in the city always starts but there is never an end in sight," he said. For his part, KMC spokesperson Bashir Ahmed told The Express Tribune that they will reveal the estimated completion date of the project in the coming weeks.



This flyover will be completed in 10 months and we are committed to ensuring that it does not stop in the middle, assured Sheraz Ahmed, the project manager of the contractor Shamsher Khan and Co. He added that the route advisory and the diversion plans were issued by the contractor to all major stakeholders of the area.

Meanwhile, the IoBM spokesperson also added that the construction company alerted them. "We were informed long before the construction began so we were able to issue an advisory to all our students to avoid any inconvenience," said Pervaiz Jamil. He added that there will be major traffic jams at the Nasir Jump turning as that becomes the only route leading to the institute. The flow of traffic in the early morning hours is really bad, he said.



The traffic police are also trying to manage the additional traffic load. "This road has a lot of traffic because of the [nearby] industrial area," said traffic police inspector Hamid, who was present at the site. "We will change our traffic plans according to the progress on the construction."

Published in The Express Tribune, January 19^th, 2016.