Arrested development: Lyari Expressway still incomplete after 12 years
Resettlement of affected families still the main issue hindering completion.
In a statement issued from Governor House the same day, the governor said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has issued directives for the completion of the project by December this year. PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI:
The Lyari Expressway started in May 2002 and now, nearly 12 years later, the project still remains incomplete. This is the third mega transportation project introduced in Karachi, along with the Karachi Circular Railway and the Bus Rapid Transit system.
The main issue that stands in the way of its completion is the lack of funds to resettle the affected families. The southbound part of the expressway, which stretches from Sohrab Goth to Mauripur Road, has been completed and is in use for traffic since 2010. However, a 2.2-kilometre-long portion of the northbound track is the area standing in the way.
Around 700 metres of the unconstructed expressway comes in district Central and 1.5km falls in district West. The National Highway Authority (NHA) that is constructing the road is asking for the Right of Way from the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), which says that it needs funds to pay compensation and resettlement money to the families whose houses are coming on the route of the road.
According to Karachi Commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, the government has to provide Rs50,000 in cash and an 80-square-yard plot to each family affected by the project. These families have to be shifted to alternative sites in Hawke's Bay, Taisar and Baldia towns for rehabilitation, he said.
The funds for the resettlement project have to be released by the provincial government and the KMC is looking for this fund to get released, he explained. "The way forward in the project is to get the resettlement funds from the Sindh government so that we can start moving the people away from the route," he said. "Then we can give the Right of Way to the National Highway Authority and the Frontier Works Organisation who claim they are ready for the construction work."
The estimated cost of resettling the affected people is Rs2 billion, which the provincial government has yet to release, Siddiqui said, adding that he cannot say when the amount will be made available. "The chief minister wants to complete it and he has categorically stated that they want to complete it soon," he said. "If we get the resettlement money, we will not wait anymore. It will only be a matter of months after that." Siddiqui admitted that the delays in the project have increased the cost by more than twice of the initial estimated cost of Rs5.1 billion.
Political hurdles
A former official associated with the project, told The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity, that influential political parties were also putting hurdles in the removal of the population from its route.
"One political party has a strong vote bank in those areas that have to be evacuated and demolished to give Right of Way to the NHA," he pointed out. The residents of Hasan Aulia village have been resisting the move to alternative neighbourhoods, he added.
"The number of families affected by the project was exaggerated and shown more than the actual figures," the official revealed, adding that the government had stopped funds for the resettlement project around seven years ago.
The commissioner insisted, however, that all political parties are supporting the project and want it completed soon. "The families are willing to shift to alternative places," he said. "A survey is also underway in Mianwali Colony to find out the number of families who will be affected and the surveys in the rest of the areas have been completed."
PM orders
The minister of state for communication, Shaikh Aftab Ahmed, and the chairperson of the Senate standing committee on communication, Sufian Ahmed, discussed the project with Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan on Friday. In a statement issued from Governor House the same day, the governor said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has issued directives for the completion of the project by December this year.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 2nd, 2014.
The Lyari Expressway started in May 2002 and now, nearly 12 years later, the project still remains incomplete. This is the third mega transportation project introduced in Karachi, along with the Karachi Circular Railway and the Bus Rapid Transit system.
The main issue that stands in the way of its completion is the lack of funds to resettle the affected families. The southbound part of the expressway, which stretches from Sohrab Goth to Mauripur Road, has been completed and is in use for traffic since 2010. However, a 2.2-kilometre-long portion of the northbound track is the area standing in the way.
Around 700 metres of the unconstructed expressway comes in district Central and 1.5km falls in district West. The National Highway Authority (NHA) that is constructing the road is asking for the Right of Way from the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), which says that it needs funds to pay compensation and resettlement money to the families whose houses are coming on the route of the road.
According to Karachi Commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, the government has to provide Rs50,000 in cash and an 80-square-yard plot to each family affected by the project. These families have to be shifted to alternative sites in Hawke's Bay, Taisar and Baldia towns for rehabilitation, he said.
The funds for the resettlement project have to be released by the provincial government and the KMC is looking for this fund to get released, he explained. "The way forward in the project is to get the resettlement funds from the Sindh government so that we can start moving the people away from the route," he said. "Then we can give the Right of Way to the National Highway Authority and the Frontier Works Organisation who claim they are ready for the construction work."
The estimated cost of resettling the affected people is Rs2 billion, which the provincial government has yet to release, Siddiqui said, adding that he cannot say when the amount will be made available. "The chief minister wants to complete it and he has categorically stated that they want to complete it soon," he said. "If we get the resettlement money, we will not wait anymore. It will only be a matter of months after that." Siddiqui admitted that the delays in the project have increased the cost by more than twice of the initial estimated cost of Rs5.1 billion.
Political hurdles
A former official associated with the project, told The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity, that influential political parties were also putting hurdles in the removal of the population from its route.
"One political party has a strong vote bank in those areas that have to be evacuated and demolished to give Right of Way to the NHA," he pointed out. The residents of Hasan Aulia village have been resisting the move to alternative neighbourhoods, he added.
"The number of families affected by the project was exaggerated and shown more than the actual figures," the official revealed, adding that the government had stopped funds for the resettlement project around seven years ago.
The commissioner insisted, however, that all political parties are supporting the project and want it completed soon. "The families are willing to shift to alternative places," he said. "A survey is also underway in Mianwali Colony to find out the number of families who will be affected and the surveys in the rest of the areas have been completed."
PM orders
The minister of state for communication, Shaikh Aftab Ahmed, and the chairperson of the Senate standing committee on communication, Sufian Ahmed, discussed the project with Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan on Friday. In a statement issued from Governor House the same day, the governor said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has issued directives for the completion of the project by December this year.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 2nd, 2014.