Making the market empress-ive again

Sindh govt to turn Empress Market into pedestrian only zone, operate trams for public use

KARACHI: The 127-year-old Empress Market is all set to get an facelift once again.

If you stroll through the market and its adjoining areas today, you will notice the poor condition of the side roads, with sewers overflowing, cars and motorcycles parked haphazardly and public buses blocking half the road.

But after years of turning a blind eye, the Sindh government is finally taking ownership of the renovation and has taken an initiative to restore the market to its past glory by converting Preedy Street - in front of the market – to a pedestrian only zone by the end of this year.

The project, which includes the restoration of the Eduljee Dinshaw Dispensary and Jahangir Park, is being undertaken by the Sindh local government department at a cost of Rs956 million.

 Empress Market

Empress Market was constructed between 1884 and 1889 and was named to commemorate Queen Victoria, Empress of India. The market was constructed at a site that was clearly visible from a great distance. The site of the market had historical significance as well, as it was situated on the grounds where a number of native sepoys (infantry soldiers in Mughal Empire) were executed after the Indian Uprising of 1857.

The foundation stone of Empress Market was laid by then governor of Bombay James Ferguson in 1884. It was designed by architect James Strachan), the foundations were completed by English firm AJ Attfield and the building was constructed by local firm Mahoomed Niwan and Dulloo Khejoo.



The project includes the installation of trams to facilitate the public. PHOTO: COURTESY SINDH LOCAL GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT

Rerouting of public buses 

The starting point of the pedestrian zone, according to one of the engineers of the project, will be from Saddar Dawakhana on Preedy Street till the Singer Plus traffic light where Zaibunnisa Street starts.

The entire pedestrian zone, he said, will be roughly 500 metres. Public buses that ply on this street will be rerouted via Mansfield Street from Rainbow Centre towards Lucky Star instead of going in front Empress Market.

The opposite route of this track will be from the Dr Daudpota Road towards MA Jinnah Road. For this route, public buses will have to cross Preedy Street, where the engineer said that they would most likely install traffic lights on that portion and later an underpass could be constructed.

The intercity bus stations on these routes, however, will be one of the major hitches of this project. According to Sindh Air-Condition Bus Owner’s Association member Malik Muhammad Riaz, they have their bus depots around Dr Daudpota Road, at Taj Complex and Rainbow Centre. Several meetings, he pointed out have been held in this regard with the Sindh government, but they have failed to provide them with the alternative land. To this, the project’s executive engineer Muhammad Izhar has clarified that the intercity bus stands are not on their routes so far.

The Sindh Tajjir Ittehad’s Saleem Memon, who is also the president of Rainbow Centre’s union in Saddar, said that the idea of converting Saddar into a pedestrian zone is very old, but up till now no one has taken them into confidence. There are thousands of illegal kiosks and hawkers in the market, he said, whom the Sindh government would have to remove to materialise their idea.

Construction work

Parallel to Mansfield Street is Mir Karam Ali Talpur Road that will be converted into a food street and Raja Ghazanfar Ali Road, which is parallel to the Dr Daudpota Road, will be converted in a night bazaar. Red wheel-based trams will run on these routes to facilitate visitors and one lane will be for ambulances and other emergency vehicles.



A parking plaza behind Empress Market, Shahab Uddin Parking, will be constructed with a capacity of 600 vehicles at a time, with a second portion of the plaza being constructed at a later date with a capacity of 1,000 vehicles. The parking plaza in Lines area and the Saddar Parking Plaza on New MA Jinnah Road will also be utilised.

On Preedy Street, 10 per cent of the work has already been completed and a sewer line of 18-inch-diameter has been laid. On Mir Karam Ali Talpur Road, 15 per cent of the work has been completed and the water supply line has been laid.

On Raja Ghazanfar Ali Road, where, according to the government’s plan, the night bazaar is supposed to take place, the replacement of pipelines is under way. After the replacement of these sewage and water pipelines, Izhar said Saddar’s water and sanitation problems will be permanently resolved.

The renovation of Empress Market itself is not included in this project, according to Sindh Local Government Department’s Technical Director-General Niaz Somroo. For that, he assured that there will be a second phase of the project in which other heritage buildings will also be renovated.

Jahangir Park

Restoration of Jahangir Park is also part of this project and 47% of the refurbishment work on the park has been completed, including 30% of the boundary walls.

Jahangir Park, according to the Sindh government’s plan, will have kiosks and seating areas, an amphitheatre, children’s play area, a family park, dinosaur park, library and an aviary