Numaish Chowrangi underpass nears completion

Affordable mass transit system to greet Karachi before year’s end

KARACHI:

After bypassing several hiccups in the process, the country’s first double-storey underpass located at Numaish Chowrangi, is now a step closer to completion.

The project, carrying a hefty price tag of Rs3 billion, is slated to welcome Green Line Buses on its track next month. While three more Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lines are also expected to begin operations in the coming months.

According to project details, Phase-I of the city’s first mass transit system, Green Line BRT, has been constructed under the supervision of Sindh Infrastructure Development Company Limited, a federal government agency. The Numaish Chowrangi underpass, touted as the country’s largest underpass, spanning over 1.2 kilometres, 20 metres in width and 12 metres in height, will offer all the facilities of a mass transit system.

The integration of BRTS lines from different routes will also take place here, for which four bus stations are being constructed.

In future, after the construction of remaining BRT projects including Red Line, Yellow Line and Blue Line, their buses will also pass through here.

It may be noted that Numaish Chowrangi is the busiest intersection of the city and traffic to CBD areas such as Saddar, Tower and II Chandragar Road surges through it.

Development work on the Numaish Chowrangi underpass started in 2018 and its roof work was completed in 2020. During this period, MA Jinnah Road and all the link roads around it were closed due to which the citizens faced severe commuting issues.

There are 10 interlink routes, including three major highways and two minor roads.

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MA Jinnah Road, Gurmunder to Numaish and Capri Cinema to Numaish are the main highways while Shahra-e-Quaideen and Brito Road are also two-lane roads.

In addition, two minor roads from Parsi Colony Road and Nizami Road also meet at Numaish Chowrangi.

The number of vehicles passing through here has been recorded to be around 150 thousand, which were all forced to divert to alternative routes like Soldier Bazaar & Garden, Shahra-e-Faisal and other routes; causing severe traffic jams on these important highways and other roads.

According to the engineers of Sindh Infrastructure Development Company Limited (SIDCL), the construction work of the underpass at Namaish Chowrangi was delayed due to transfer of water and other utility lines.

Development work was halted for three months last year due to Covid-19. After the roof work was completed, it was opened to normal traffic in August 2020, and underpass work continued under the roof, which is now in the final stages of completion.

SIDCL Chief Engineer Nisar Sario, while talking to The Express Tribune, said that BRT buses will pass through the ground floor of the underpass while offices of private transport companies managing mass transit services will be set up on the mezzanine floor.

Highlighting the most important features of the underpass, Sario said that it includes four bus stations and a state-of-the-art waiting room, which is currently under construction. Other than that, he said that there are seven escalators, seven pedestrian bridges, 24 automatic opening and closing PSD gates and ramps for special persons that are being constructed. “A functional drainage system has been constructed for removal of rain water, and the underpass will consist of three lanes- two lanes for moving buses and one lane for bus parking,” he added.

The entire project is expected to be made functional sometime in December 2021, as finishing touches to the project still remain. Sario mentioned that only BRT buses will pass through this route, while the underpass will remain off limits to normal traffic.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 1^st, 2021.