KARACHI, Nov 28: Work on technical aspects of the Lyari Expressway project has almost been completed and the project is now at the take-off stage, it is learnt here.
The 16.5 kilometre and four-lane expressway, which will run along the Lyari River embankments, will take three years to complete. The go-ahead signal for the construction of the multi-million project was given by the Chief Executive, Gen Pervez Musharraf.
It is also learnt that the National Highway Authority (NHA) has sought the possession of the vacant land which was cleared of encroachments a few months back.
NHA chairman Maj-Gen Farrukh Javed also attended a briefing here on Tuesday in which various aspects of the project were discussed.
He was told the work on the project would start immediately after the handing over of the possession of the land along the Lyari river embankments.
The meeting was also told that the government had allocated Rs500 million for the Expressway project and a resettlement plan was also prepared for the resettlement of the affected people.
Originally, the project was approved in 1996 by the then KMC administrator. The construction of the project was to be carried out by a UAE based consortium on a BoT basis. A letter of intent was also issued to it.
But the construction work hindered due to the political pressure of the land mafia and bureaucratic wranglings and the project remained in doldrums.
However, the project was revived again when the Chief Executive gave a go-ahead signal, stating clearly that the project was in the interest of the city and the country.
The Expressway project would be an uninterrupted route for the vast traffic form the Karachi Port to upcountry and possibly to Afghanistan.
The government has also planned to link it with the Mekran Coastal Highway Project. Work on the coastal highway is in full swing and the project is progressing well, sources said.
According to the sources, the location is advantageous for operational conditions and indeed offers a unique opportunity to the private sector to invest in the project.
Studies carried out by experts show that the project is technically and economically feasible. After the construction of the highway the projected land value would be enhanced.
It would also clear the Lyari River, which is a dumping ground for the municipal and industrial waste, and the whole area would get a new beautiful look.
Residents of Lyari have been raising their concern over delay in the construction of the project. They say the Lyari River once was the only open and potentially green area in the heart of the heavy density, environmentally degraded settlements in the centres of Karachi.
But it was defaced and converted into a dumping ground of all sorts of wastage by the land mafia who sell the land to squatters. Over the years, they had built their commercial ventures.
They also denounced the view presented by the land mafia that the building of the Expressway project would require the demolition of 20,000 to 24,000 housing units.
According to an NGO, only 8,000 to 10,000 housing and commercial units built illegally would be affected. Moreover, they argued the resettlement issue was manageable.
“Despite all these facts if the government is sincere in implementing this project, we are ready to cooperate with the government in the greater interests of the city”, said a resident.
However, he suggested that proper compensation and alternative plots near the workplaces of the dislocated families be given to them.
The leases should be issued to the settlements on the riverbed, which would not be dislocated by the expressway project.
Meanwhile, a local NGO, the Lyari Rabita Council, has urged the government to start the work on the project as early as possible.
A representative of the NGO said the land mafia was actively working to create hindrances to the construction of the Expressway and would try to delay the launching of the project as was done in the past.
