Paraphernalia gathers dust at Shafiq Morr

Sindh govt lost interest in broadening of bridge that began around three years ago

KARACHI: The iron rods sticking out of the broadening of the semi-constructed bridge at Shafiq Morr over the Gujjar Nullah are corroding. The machinery is gathering dust. The make-shift site office is padlocked.

As is the case with most of the projects, the Sindh government seems to have lost interest in finishing what it started - the broadening of the Shafiq Morr Bridge from two lanes to three - almost three years ago.

Lack of funds and coordination, encroachments and bureaucratic red tape have halted the construction of one of the sides of the Shafiq Morr Bridge.



At the bridge towards Nagan Chowrangi, the four-and-five-lane Rashid Minhas Road, which is one of the city’s main signal-free thoroughfares, turns into a two-lane one, snarling the traffic for no less than half-an-hour.

The construction work is being carried by the Sindh government’s works and service department (WSD) instead of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC). An official of the WSD, requesting anonymity, told The Express Tribune that the construction work started in 2013 on the track from Nagan Chowrangi towards Sohrab Goth, which was completed by 2014 after several hiccups. In 2014, the official said, the work on the other track from Sohrab Goth towards Nagan Chowrangi kicked off, which has yet to be completed. According to the official, the project was ‘full of problems since its inception’. He explained that the funds were released in many phases by the Sindh government, which halted its construction. “We used to get 25% funds after several months’ break,” he said, adding that there were problems of encroachment and utility lines besides flaws in project design.

Monsoon effect

Meanwhile, an engineer of the WSD, Abdul Mutalib, said that they were unable to work due to the recent rains. He explained that on the directives of North Nazimabad assistant commissioner Rafique Shaikh, the work was stopped, keeping in view the monsoon season as they have to halt the flow of the water in Gujjar Nullah to carry out the construction work.

Apart from that, he said that there were power lines of K-Electric that were supposed to be replaced, which took quite some time. However, on a question about the project’s construction having been halted for more than two years, he failed to respond.



Nevertheless, the engineer assured that they will resume the work by soon and complete it in a few months as 60% of the work on the broadening of the bridge had already been done. He explained that piling for the bridge has almost been completed and now they will have to place a pipe inside the Gujjar Nullah so that water flow can be given the passage through the pipe. After this, he said, they will construct the roof of the bridge.

He explained that they will turn the two-lane bridge into a three-lane one, along with a service road of two lanes on the portion towards Nagan Chowrangi as the amount of traffic on that track is huge. There is no service road, according to him, on the other track towards the Sohrab Goth, which has already been constructed.

Meanwhile, WSD secretary Aijaz Ahmed Memon did not respond to repeated phone calls.

Common man’s suffering

A resident of North Karachi, Owais Muhammad, said that Shafiq Morr is the bane of the entire Rashid Minhas Road. The officials, he said, claim to have stopped the work due to the rains. “The monsoon season just came but the work at the bridge has been at a halt for two years,” he said, adding that it is no less than a nightmare to cross the Shafiq Morr Bridge.

A driver of Edhi ambulance near Nagan Chowrangi, requesting anonymity, said that an injured patient lost his life in the ambulance as there was a severe traffic jam at the Shafiq Morr Bridge. Due to this, he said, he now prefers taking a longer route from inside North Karachi’s industrial area. 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 15^th, 2016.