Sharae Faisal partially closed for traffic

Commuters face difficulties as flow of traffic disrupted in several adjoining localities

KARACHI: Hundreds of motorists faced difficulty on Thursday as one track of Sharae Faisal, leading from Hotel Metropole to the airport was closed for maintenance work on the underground sewerage lines in front of Hotel Mehran. The worst traffic jam was witnessed during rush hour at around 1 pm, when different schools and colleges closed for the day, and then again after 5 pm. Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) officials said that the repair work could take up to 24 hours to be completed.

With the city’s main artery choked, the traffic congestion spilt on to other adjoining streets and localities such as Zainab Market, Saddar, Lucky Star, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Gora Qabristan and Cantt Station.

South Zone Traffic SSP Akhtar Asad told The Express Tribune that depression had formed on Raja Ghazanfar Ali Road, which connects Sharae Faisal to Atrium Mall, due to an underground sewerage line during the recent rainfall.

KWSB officials had informed the traffic police on Wednesday that they would be repairing the sewerage line and that one track of the major thoroughfare would have to be closed for traffic.

The SSP said that they hadn’t received any complaints regarding traffic jams anywhere, but traffic police personnel were present at the site at all times. Though the traffic flow will be heavier than usual in areas such as JPMC, Gora Qabristan, Zainab Market, Lucky Star and Hotel Metropole till the repair work is completed, he said that the police would ensure there are no bottlenecks. SSP Asad estimated that it would take 24 to 36 hours for the KWSB officials to complete the repair work.

Traffic police claimed to have mapped out alternative routes for citizens. They requested citizens to cooperate with the traffic police to avoid taking the route and to contact the traffic police helpline 1915 in case of any difficulty. They can also get details from the traffic police’s social media pages, including Facebook at www.facebook.com/karachitrafficpolice, their WhatsApp number - 03059266907 or FM radio 88.6.

Meanwhile, KWSB’s Assistant Executive Engineer Arshad Javed said that the repair work on the sewerage line was started at 2 am on Thursday and would be completed within 24 hours, after which the track will be opened for traffic. He said that the underground sewerage line was laid in 1964. “The sewerage line had sunken inside the land which caused a depression in the road,” he added.

The sewerage system at Sarwar Shaheed Road, Raja Ghazanfar Ali Road, JPMC and various areas of Saddar is badly affected due to the same sewerage line.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 6^th, 2019.