Malir Expressway work to begin this month: CM Murad

CM says govt to set up Rs35b water treatment plant

Pakistan Peoples Party chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will lay the foundation stone of Malir Expressway this month, announced Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Thursday.

The statement came around a month after the date initially fixed by the Sindh government to start work on the 39-kilometre-long road. It had intended to begin work on the project in the second week of November this year.

Addressing the media after reviewing preliminary work on the scheme, the CM complained of the Sindh government receiving less than its share of funds by the Centre over the past five months.

"The funds furnished to the provincial government are short by Rs70 billion and that is why we have decided to launch mega development schemes on the public-private partnership model, foremost of which is Malir Expressway," he said.

Sharing details about the project, the CM said the Malir Expressway would be constructed along the left bank of the Malir River at a cost of Rs27 billion. He added that the artery would be a "controlled-access facility."

A controlled access road is a type of thoroughfare that has been designed to for high-speed traffic, with the traffic flow being regulated at entry and exit points.

The CM further said the road would comprise six lanes, a side shoulder and dual carriageways.

Malir Expressway's design also includes nine pedestrian crossings and five weighbridges, used for weighing large industrial vehicles and their contents.

According to the CM, traffic will be allowed to flow at a speed of 100 km per hour on the road, with speed reduced to 50 km per hour at interchanges.

He said the project was planned for completion in three years, but he had directed the Sindh local government minister to expedite it so the scheme could be fully executed within two and a half years.

The Malir Expressway will extend from Korangi Road to Kathore, after passing through Shah Faisal Colony and Future Colony, the CM said, adding that it, along with the 2km Kandhkot-Ghotki bridge, was the latest public-private project launched by the Sindh government.

Speaking about other development schemes, the CM said Karachi ICI Bridge was being upgraded at a cost of Rs900 million, Korangi flyover was being uplifted for Rs12 billion and part of Mauripur Road's Y-junction was being revamped for Rs8 billion.

"These projects will transform Karachi, making it one of the most beautiful cities," he claimed.

Water projects

The CM also said the Sindh government planned to launch a water treatment plant with the capacity to treat 30 million gallons of water daily (MGD), which would be provided to industrial areas. Setting up the plant will cost around Rs35 billion, he added.

Besides, he said TP-IV, a plant to treat wastewater from Korangi and Malir, would be launched at a cost of Rs70 billion and another Rs7 billion would be invested in the reconstruction of Hub Canal.

According to the CM, multiple development and civic projects in Karachi are near completion and some new ones were expected to be started within the next three months.

Resignations

Responding to a question, the CM said the Pakistan Peoples Party was a party of loyal parliamentarians who would tender their resignations whenever the party leaders ordered it.

"We are carrying our resignations in our pockets and will resign from the assembly whenever the leadership asks us," the CM reiterated.

KCR

In response to another question, the CM said his cabinet had expressed reservations over reinitiating the operations of the "old KCR [Karachi Circular Railway]" and cabinet members had urged him take up the issue of the "modern KCR, which Karachiites deserved," with the Centre.

He said he KCR trains had hardly 22 per cent occupancy rate and the intra-city train services was getting meagre Rs8,000 to Rs10,000 in returns per trip, against a spending of thousands.

"The project has been approved under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and now only its financial plan needs to be finalised, but whenever we take up the issue with the federal government, they brush it aside and instead wants to discuss the construction of the ML-1 project," the CM said. "It is an injustice to Karachi's people."

Published in The Express Tribune, December 11^th, 2020.