Sindh CM inaugurates Sadequain underpass at Golimar

Murad says unchecked growth of Karachi has created myriad of problems

KARACHI: Inaugurating Sadequain underpass at Golimar on Tuesday, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said that the unchecked growth of Karachi has created lot of problems such as destruction of infrastructure, emergence of settlements in slum areas and along the storm water drains and all this has resulted in the worst law and order situation.

Local Government Minister Jam Khan Shoro, Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar, Deputy Mayor Dr Arshad Vohra and senior government and KMC officers attended the inauguration ceremony.

According to the CM, the growth of the city is unplanned and a lot of new areas have emerged without proper town planning. As a result, he said, gutters are overflowing and water is not supplied to each household. "On top of it, worst law and order further aggravated the situation," he said. "As a result, the government is engaged in fighting terrorists, instead of focusing on the development of infrastructure." He added that things have now improved considerably and the government, after crushing the terrorists, has started paying full attention to development of the infrastructure of the city.





Karachi is the capital of the provincial government, said Shah. The city not only provides maximum revenue to the Sindh government but also contributes a lot to the national exchequer. Therefore, he said, it becomes the right of this city and its people to have all the facilities - not just basic ones but the advanced ones - for which he is striving hard.

Sharing powers

Addressing the mayor, the chief minister said that they have to work together for the people of the city. "Today, I am giving you my powers," he said. "You may exercise them for the benefit of the people and development of the city."

Earlier, the local government minister briefed the CM on the Golimar underpass that has been renamed as Sadequain underpass. According to him, the project has been completed at a cost of Rs450.7 million. The length of the underpass is 377.13 metres while the width of the project is 7.5 metres. He said that the project was originally started as a flyover but with the launching of the Green Line RBT project, it was redesigned into an underpass. This is why the project took some long time in its completion, he said.



The mayor said that people had been facing hardships due to the prolonged construction work of the underpass. "Thank God that it has been completed and now the people of the area will reap its benefits," he said.

Akhtar said that from now onwards, there will be no bullets or china-cutting. Instead, he said, the city will be protected and its people will be given maximum facilities at their doorstep.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 1^st, 2017.