Korangi Crossing flyovers yet to see light of the day

Government delays approval of PC-1 of project

KARACHI: The construction of the Korangi Crossing flyovers in front of Indus Hospital came to a grinding halt as the Sindh government failed to approve the revised PC-1 of the project with updated costs.

In November last year, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) started the construction of two flyovers at the Korangi Crossing to help ease traffic flow. Flyover I, on the road from KPT Interchange towards Ibrahim Hyderi, is two-way and already under construction.



However, the fate of Flyover II, in front of the Indus Hospital on the road coming from Nasir Jump to the one leading to KPT Interchange, hangs in the balance. The construction of the two flyovers is part of one project.

The ground-breaking ceremony of the two flyovers was performed by former Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, said an official of the project’s contractor, Shamsher Khan and Co, requesting anonymity.

Initially, an underpass was to be constructed at the Korangi Crossing but due to the presence of major utility lines the idea was scrapped and a revised PC-1 of the flyover has yet to be approved, added the official.

The official explained that the piling of flyover I has been completed and they just need to launch the garters, which will take almost a month. However, according to him, due to the delay in the revised PC-1 of the project, the construction of Flyover I has also been halted.

There is a span of Flyover I over which Flyover II will be constructed, he said. For this reason, he explained, it is necessary for them to start the piling work of Flyover II and place its garters at the intersecting span so that at least Flyover I can be completed.

On the other hand, an engineer of KMC at the site, Muhammad Tahir, said that the PC-1 has almost been approved by the Sindh government and soon the piling work of Flyover II will start.

The piling machines, which the contractor will rent, are currently being used for the Green Line Bus Rapid Transit project in the city, due to which the construction will be delayed, explained Tahir.

Extra-tension wires

Apart from that, the K-Electric’s extra high-tension wires of 132,000 kilovolt, which are potentially one of the reasons of the project’s delay, will be relocated, said Tahir.

Meanwhile, the Shamsher Khan and Co’s official said that the K-Electric’s estimation for the relocation of their utility lines was Rs7.3 million. Due to this, he said, they proposed to them to execute the relocation themselves and the K-Electric will have to place underground cables instead, which has reduced the cost.



Indus Hospital’s reservations

The Indus Hospital, which is in expansion mode, has its own set of reservations with the construction of flyover II.

Earlier, one of the founding members of the hospital, Dr Akhtar Aziz, had told The Express Tribune that they plan to expand the facility from 150 beds to 1,800 beds. Due to this, he said, the hospital will receive 10 times more patients and ambulances than they usually did.

According to him, with the construction of the flyover, the three-lane road in front of the hospital will turn into a two-lane one as the flyover’s ramp will be constructed on one lane.

Indus Hospital asked the KMC to arrange segregated U-turns for ambulances rushing towards the hospital and a low-height underpass for pedestrians as well as special bus ramps for public buses to prevent the congestion of traffic.

The chief executive officer of the hospital, Dr Abdul Bari Khan, said that the KMC has now agreed to their design, including the U-turns.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 17^th, 2016.