Four years on, Malir 15 flyover yet to be completed

Hundreds of shops in the area closed or moved due to construction that began in 2013

KARACHI: "Mashallah Motorcycle Exchange chand qadam agay shift ho gai hai [Mashallah Motorcycle Exchange has been moved a little further]."

Similar words are inscribed on banners outside the many shuttered shops at Jamia Millia Road at Malir 15. Hundreds of shops have been forced to shut down or move somewhere else during the last one year due to the construction of the Malir 15 flyover. The project was started in 2013. Four years down the lane, work is still in progress.



On February 8 last year, then chief minister (CM) Qaim Ali Shah and MNA Faryal Talpur had inaugurated half of the flyover from Malir 15 bus stop to Millat Bakery after missing numerous deadlines in the past. During the inauguration, Local Government Minister Jam Khan Shoro had announced that the flyover's portion from Quaidabad to Azeempura, which expands over the Pakistan Railways' land, will be completed by June, 2016.



When The Express Tribune visited the site last year in the month of September, an official of the EA Consulting Private Limited — the consultants of the project — claimed that 100% pilling work for the remaining portion of the flyover has been completed and now they just have to launch the girders, after which the said section will become functional.

Almost four months later, the girders have yet to be launched at the site. The roads are completely broken and dust engulfs the area.

Pinning the blame

Reiterating his statement, an official of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) says that even four years after the initiation of the project, they have yet to receive a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the Pakistan Railways. A portion of the flyover, which is under construction, has to be constructed over the Pakistan Railways' track and the NOC has to be obtained from Lahore, he says.

The official points out that apart from the railway track, there are five residential quarters of Pakistan Railways that have to be demolished. He says they have been waiting for the NOC for this for the last four years.



"Our garters are ready," he says. "As soon as we get the NOC, we will place them."

Meanwhile, the divisional superintendent of Pakistan Railways in Karachi, Nisar Ahmed Memon, claims that they issued the NOC a long time ago. "The KMC has thrown all their debris in our area," he says, adding that the KMC should initially clean the debris and expedite their work.

Businesses affected

"Our businesses are destroying. We don't have money to feed our children," laments the owner of Neo MashaAllah Paint Shop. "Look at the condition of the road. Customers don't make their ways to our shops anymore."

Hardly two labourers working on such a huge flyover are seen in a week, says another shopkeeper, Gul Khan. "Gusty winds blow the entire day and we have to sit inside the shop keeping our mouths covered," he says, adding that they would not have faced such a loss had the government expedited the construction.

Abdul Razaq says he has to sprinkle water outside his tea kiosk in the area three times a day to settle the blowing dust. "There isn't any road in the area," he says. "It's only dust. How can our customers sit and have a cup of tea in dust?"

Razaq's business has gone down ever since the construction work kicked off in the area. "It's been four years and we have no hope that this project will ever complete," he says. "We have no option left but to move our business now."

Motorcyclists at railway crossing

Despite the closure of the railway crossing over which the flyover is being constructed, several motorcyclists ply their vehicles on the crossing. An official of the Pakistan Railways, Muhammad Ali, says that despite the permanent closure of the railway crossing, motorcycle riders continue to ply their vehicles over the railway track due to which several accidents take place.

Plight of the people

According to one of the residents of the area, while the alternative passage is at a little distance through a railway culvert, it is mostly inundated with sewage water and covered in huge piles of garbage. "People become victim of mugging when they use the railway culvert," says a resident, Muhammad Aslam.

Rehmatullah, who purchased his Qingqi rickshaw two years back at a cost of Rs0.3 million, says that due to the road full of huge ditches, his vehicle has become so rickety that he is unable to sale it now. "The volume of passengers has also declined as no one uses this route," he laments.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2017.