Traffic woes: Two of Hyd’s vital road projects yet to be completed

The flyover project started when MQM's Kanwar Naveed was nazim in 2008

HYDERABAD: Two of the most vital road communication projects in Hyderabad are likely to remain in mothballs after a high-level meeting on Thursday ended without reaching a decision.

Sindh chief secretary Mohammad Siddiq Memon ordered a clichéd inquiry report regarding the delay in the completion of the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Flyover and Nasim Nagar Underpass worth Rs350 million and Rs200 million, respectively.

Memon chaired the meeting attended by officials of various government departments in the nine districts of Hyderabad division. The officials, including those belonging to the health, education, works and services departments, development authorities, Hyderabad Electric Supply Company, district administration and police, discussed a range of development projects. Among other issues, they discussed the implementation of the National Action Plan.



During the meeting, Memon asked Hyderabad commissioner Asif Hyder Shah to complete and submit the inquiry report within a week.

The flyover project was one of six such projects undertaken by the former nazim, Kanwar Naveed of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, in 2008. While the remaining projects were completed within the stipulated time frame, the flyover project located in Hyderabad's outskirts in Hala Naka was stopped due to funding and litigation issues.

Besides easing the inter-city traffic, the project aimed to connect the National Highway and Super Highway with the Hyderabad-Mirpurkhas Road.

Meanwhile, the underpass proposed to be constructed at a busy intersection in Naseem Nagar was initiated in 2010. Pakistan Peoples Party MNA Amir Ali Shah Jamote initially got the approved Rs150 million, out of which Rs40 million were also released to the Hyderabad Development Package (HDP), from the federal government. The revised cost then rose to Rs200 million.

Due to technical issues and litigation, however, the scheme aimed at addressing traffic congestion problems could not be initiated.

Hyderabad commissioner informed the chief secretary that 2,480 development schemes in various sectors and government departments in the Hyderabad division are underway at a cost of Rs5.6 billion.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 3^rd, 2015.