New underpass to ease traffic flow on Sharae Faisal

Project director lauds efforts to complete project in record time

KARACHI:

The Nusrat Bhutto underpass at Mehran Hotel, which has been in the offing since the tenure of former city-mayor, Mustafa Kamal, was finally opened to public on Friday.

The long-time Karachi Metropolitan Corporation project director, Khalid Masroor, is the man of the hour. He completed the project within the stipulated time, delivering on the promise he had made in March, earlier this year, to complete the work within four months without clogging traffic along Sharae Faisal.



The underpass, which connects Cantt Station to Lucky Star signal in Saddar, was inaugurated on Friday by Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, who was accompanied by local bodies' minister, Nasir Hussain Shah, and Karachi Commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui.

Initially, the plan had been to build a flyover at the site but permission was not granted by the relevant authorities as many army installations are located in close proximity. Subsequently, it was decided to build an underpass instead, a proposal that was ultimately approved by all the stakeholders.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Masroor said that during the construction, traffic flow at Hotel Metropole was reduced by providing diversions at Daudpota Road from Saddar to Cantt Station and a diversion was created from the back of Avari Towers and Jinnah Hospital.

Traffic on Sharae Faisal was diverted in a curve to the side in front of Chundrigar House and Rimpa Twin Star where there was a greenbelt, Masroor explained. "The greenbelt was removed from above the ground and underground shifting remained underway, which didn't take more than a month," he said. "Not for a single second was the traffic blocked due to the construction of the underpass."

With regards to the beautification of the underpass, Masroor said it would take two to three days. "We will work on each barrel and relate it to Karachi," he said.



He said that the underpass was 15 metres wide and 334 metres long. The completion period of the project, according to the statement issued by the KMC, was 130 working days, and was built at a cost of Rs581.34 million.

According to the project director, traffic on Sharae Faisal would be able to flow smoothly as Hotel Metropol would be cleared and traffic from Saddar to Cantt Station would also flow freely. His optimism was, however, contradicted by the Traffic DIG Amir Ahmed Shaikh, who reasoned that the underpass would not be able to reduce traffic congestion on Sharae Faisal. The officer told The Express Tribune that the real problem of traffic congestion lay at the Baloch Colony flyover. "It has an extra ramp at the flyover, which is useless and was supposed to be demolished," he pointed out, adding that the ramp clogged traffic during peak hours.



Pointing out the traffic congestion at Drigh Road, he said that it would also remain the same. The DIG did admit, however, that the load of traffic at Zainab Market and Metropol roundabout would be highly reduced. "The traffic moving from Saddar to Cantt would also flow freely," he agreed.

Meanwhile, CM Shah said that usually, projects of this nature faced several hiccups during construction but the completion of this project in record time showed that the government was competent enough.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 29^th, 2015.