Delays in Lyari Expressway

The PMIC and the NHA should recommend the Lyari Expressway to be built according to its current design.

When the Lyari Expressway was first being proposed, it was accompanied by a hailstorm of media attention. There was opposition to the project on the grounds that it would displace families and be a blight on the environment. In recent years, though, the controversy has largely dissipated and the Lyari Expressway seems to have been all but forgotten. That is a shame as a scandal of epic proportions is brewing. As this paper reported on April 2, a political conflict between the major parties in Karachi has led to a virtual halt in the construction of the Lyari Expressway. While the track from Sohrab Goth to Karachi port is operational, the one in the opposite direction is still incomplete. The PPP, MQM and ANP are all trying to get the master plan of the expressway amended so that it does not affect their activists and supporters. Accommodating the demands of all these parties would not only further add to the cost of an already expensive project, it would also be impractical.

One of the mantras constantly repeated by proponents of development projects, and these include members from all the political parties involved in the current dispute, is that the needs of many have to be put above the interests of a few affected people. It seems the parties believe this holds true for everyone but themselves. Asking them to put their self-interest aside for the sake of the Lyari Expressway may be too much to ask. However, the Prime Minister’s Inspection Commission (PMIC) and the National Highway Authority should show that they are aloof from politics by recommending that the Lyari Expressway be built according to its current design. The PMIC only has the power to advise the prime minister and its recommendations are not binding, but its support for the project as it exists would put some public pressure on the ruling PPP.

This dispute also shows that Karachi, sadly, may be bereft of a leadership that is willing to compromise for the health of the city.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 7^th, 2011.