No way out: Pothole on Water Pump flyover causes traffic problems

Road connects city with Super Highway

KARACHI: Traffic flow came to a grinding halt on one track of the Water Pump flyover on Sharae Pakistan on Friday as a pothole emerged on it a night earlier.

The carpeted surface of the flyover was extensively damaged, resulting in a crater-like pothole, which measured three-by-four-feet in size. Sharae Pakistan is a segment of the road that runs between Teen Hatti and Sohrab Goth, connecting the city with the Super Highway. The thoroughfare is frequently used by goods transporters and people travelling to areas of the country outside Karachi.



The pothole emerged on Thursday night on one track of the flyover. Resultantly, the affected track was closed for traffic. The other track coming from Sohrab Goth is in a fine condition.

How it developed

The project director of the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC), Shabihul Hassan, insisted that the flyover, which was built two-and-a-half years ago, has no faults in construction. He claimed that the pothole developed when a 22-wheel trailer got one of its tyres punctured on the flyover on Thursday night. He added that the tyre was replaced with only a single jack by the mechanics, which increased pressure and weight on the road's surface and damaged it. However, he said, in such situations, multiple jacks are used so that the weight of the vehicles is equally distributed on the road below the vehicle.

Hassan added that all the resources will be utilised to complete the repair by Sunday. He complained that although these flyovers are perfectly fine for heavy traffic but the influx of heavy vehicles has increased with time. He further added that we have requested the traffic police multiple times to make sure that the heavy vehicles use the Northern Bypass, which was built for such type of vehicles.

Ashar Lodhi, a traffic engineer, explained that a heavy vehicle on the jack can cause such damage to any flyover. Lodhi said that since the weight of the vehicle is divided on multiple wheels, such incidents might be expected when the whole weight is diverted on one single jack.

He added that such incidents occur once in a blue moon and can be avoided by using alternative solutions. He mentioned that to make the flyovers weight-resistant, the cost of construction will increase by 10 times.

Angry commuters

Commuters stuck in the traffic expressed anger and frustration at the government. Wali Mahsood, a truck driver, said that he was stuck in the traffic since 30 minutes. When asked why he doesn't use the Northern Bypass, he said that he opts for it because this is the shorter route.

The driver of a school van, Arshad Khan, said that he got in serious trouble as parents started calling him when he was stuck in traffic at the site for 40 minutes.

He complained that traffic police should have informed commuters beforehand so that they could take alternative routes.

Progress

Traffic police official ASI Muhammad Anwar, who was present at the site, said that it was tough controlling the traffic since the road is also used by heavy vehicles. The Express Tribune tried contacting the traffic police department about their diversion plans but to no avail.



Meanwhile, local bodies minister Jam Khan Shoro said that he had no information about the damage to the Water Pump flyover. "I will inform about the progress of the repair work once I get the complete information," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2016.