Residents of Malir, civil society groups, environmental activists, and lawyers have called for the cancellation of the Sindh government’s mega road project, Shahrah-e-Bhutto (formerly Malir Expressway), after sections of the newly inaugurated route were washed away in recent monsoon floods.
At a press conference on Monday at the Karachi Press Club, leaders of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Movement, Sindh Indigenous Rights Alliance, and Green Chamber-Climate Action Centre, including Ahmed Shabbir, Azeem Dhakan, Master Aslam, Abira Ashfaq, Advocate Zubair Abro, and Yasir Hussain, said the project was environmentally and financially disastrous.
They said the 39-kilometre multilane expressway is being built over the Malir Riverbed and floodplain, despite warnings at public hearings and protests since 2022. The project’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), approved in April 2022, remains under litigation at the Sindh High Court (Case No 60/2023), which is scheduled to hear the matter on September 18, 2025.
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Speakers noted that part of the expressway near Jam Dam Goth was washed away in the latest rains, which the government downplayed as an “under-construction portion.” They accused authorities of ignoring flood risks, bypassing resettlement plans, and destroying farmland, villages, and cultural sites in the process.
The cost of the project has surged from Rs27.5 billion to Rs55 billion, with taxpayers ultimately shouldering the majority of expenses through public funds and bank loans. Activists said constant repairs would make the project unsustainable, while thousands of residents face displacement.
They demanded the scrapping of remaining sections, a new EIA incorporating the floods of 2020, 2022, and 2025, and accountability of those who approved the project. “This expressway is not infrastructure - it is a climate disaster,” one speaker said.
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