Construction of Green Line underpass has become a traffic nightmare

Lack of coordination, change in Red Line's plan has resulted in delayed construction

KARACHI: Crossing Gurumandir and Numaish has become nothing less than a nightmare for commuters. The entire area has been dug up for the past nine months and no proper diversions have been provided by the authorities to facilitate traffic.

The underpass for the federal government-funded Green Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, which should have been completed by now, is currently under construction in the area. However, lack of coordination, ill-planning and red tape on the part of the Sindh government has halted construction work.

Why it matters

Numaish is one the most important places in the port city. It not only connects other parts of the city with the central business district area and Saddar but is also a major route for all religious processions that take place in the city during Muharram and on Rabiul Awwal.

Major hospitals such as Civil Hospital, Karachi, Taj Medical Complex, the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation and Dow Medical College can be reached by passing through this intersection. Main commercial hubs such as Empress Market, Boulton Market, Soldier Bazaar, Bohri Bazaar, Zainab Market can all be reached after crossing Numaish, especially for those coming from districts Central, East and Malir.



Educational centres such as DJ Sindh Government Science College, Adamjee Government Science College, SM Law College and NED University's city campus are also reached by crossing Numaish. Saint Lawrence School and Saint Patricks High School and Mama Parsi Girl Secondary School are also in the vicinity. Saint Lawrence Church, Saint Patricks Church and the Aga Khani Jamaat Khana are also in the adjoining areas.

PHOTO: ATHAR KHAN/EXPRESS

To add salt to the commuters' wounds, the other routes to reach these places in Saddar are also going through some major construction work in a separate project, the 'Revival of Surrounding of Empress Market and its Adjoining Areas'.  The Cultural and Education Hub project near the Arts Council of Pakistan and DJ Science College is also under way at the same time.

Lack of coordination

The Green Line BRT is being constructed with the federal government's funds all the way from Surjani Town till Tower. Initially it was supposed to be constructed till Gurumandir, but in 2017 its reach was extended till Numaish and later till Tower.

After the feasibility studies were carried out, the underpass was dug up in August, 2017 at Numaish to provide a segregated corridor for the Green Line. "Everything was completed with the consent of the Sindh government," an official of the Karachi Infrastructure Development Company Limited (KIDCL) - the company looking after the construction work on the federal government's behalf - told The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity.



Then, all of a sudden, in October, 2017 the official said that they had to halt construction work because the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-funded Red Line BRT from Safoora to Numaish had to be integrated in the Green Line's track at Numaish. Earlier, the official said that it was decided that the Red and Yellow lines would join the Green Line's track at Gurumandir.

PHOTO: ATHAR KHAN/EXPRESS

"Once the construction work kicked off, the ADB informed us that the Red Line would come from Sharae Quaideen and will enter the underpass from Numaish," the official explained. "For this purpose, they wanted an opening on the left and right sides of the underpass."

Due to such major changes in the design, the official said that for two months they kept on discussing its practicality. Then its feasibility study was again carried out and in the meantime, the public faced the brunt of authorities' lack of coordination.

Tenders issued

KIDCL Chief Financial Officer Zubair Channa seems optimistic. He told The Express Tribune that a revised design has already been prepared and a new tender for the project was issued last week.

In a matter of three to five months, he said that a roof would be laid at Numaish after digging up the remaining portions. "Traffic would be at ease then," he said, adding that further construction activities will then take place inside the tunnel.



There will be right bus stations built underground for the Red, Yellow and Green lines. Apart from this, there will also be a parking facility for buses on both sides of the underpass and proper cross ventilation.

Now the length of the underpass will be 454 metres where earlier it was a mere 15m. It will now be 28m wide. The cost of the project has also been increased from Rs800 million to Rs8.5 billion. No official of the Sindh government was available for comments.

Traffic police

Amid all this, the traffic police were never taken on board. "Only we know how we facilitated the Muharram processions in the area," said Traffic DIG Imran Yaqoob, adding that it is unfortunate that the planning, phasing and timelines of construction projects are never honoured, due to which the traffic police faced the most difficulties.

It will be very difficult for the traffic police to manage the traffic at Numaish and Gurumandir in Ramazan, he predicted.