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KARACHI, July 8: The adviser to chief minister on local government, Waseem Akhtar, directed city government officials to expedite work on Shahrah-i-Quaideen Flyover and Jehangir Road and ensure their opening to vehicular traffic within a fortnight. He also asked the officials concerned to build three pedestrian bridges on Rashid Minhas Road, including the one in front of Aladin Park, to help provide safe passage to pedestrians and avoid accidents on this busy road.
The adviser, accompanied by DCO Fazalur Rehman and EDO (Works and Services) Sarfraz Ali Shah, was on an inspection visit to different development projects. He was told by the EDO that Shahrah-i-Quaideen and Jehangir Road projects had been delayed owing to the difficulties being faced by the city government in procuring bitumen from the National Oil Refinery.
Waseem Akhtar assured the city government officials that he would use his good offices to ensure smooth supply of bitumen so that no project was delayed for want of construction material.
Briefing the adviser on Shahrah-i-Quaideen flyover project, EDO (Works and Services) Sarfraz Ali Shah said that work on the Rs109.66 million flyover was nearing completion, besides 85 per cent road widening work from Allahwali Chowrangi to Sharea Faisal and from Shahrah-i-Quaideen to Allahwali Chowrangi had already been accomplished while 80 per cent work on the improvement of Chanesor Halt intersection had also been completed.
He said that work on the project had commenced on Feb 22, 2003 and it was scheduled to be completed in 24 months i.e. by May 30, 2005.
Attributing the delay to non-availability of steel and bitumen, he said that the work on the project had recently suspended as they were facing difficulties in acquiring specified steel at reasonable rates.
Under the project, he said, two bridges were being constructed (from Sharea Faisal to Shahrah-i-Quaideen and from Shahrah-i-Quaideen to Metropole). The overall length of both bridges is identical (i.e. 533 metres). The bridge from Sharea Faisal to Shahrah-i-Quaideen along with footpath and safety barriers would be 9.30 metres wide while the width of bridge from Shahrah-i-Quaideen to Metropole would be 13 metres.
JEHANGIR ROAD: The Executive District Officer (Works and Services), Sarfraz Ali Shah, briefing the adviser on Jehangir Road project said that the work on 1.35km-long dual carriageway had begun on Oct 25, 2004.
The project was scheduled to be completed in June 2005 at a cost of Rs35.265 million. However, the road would now be completed in the next two weeks and its electrification works which include installation of 30 electric poles with 64 bulbs will be accomplished in a month or so.
RASHID MINHAS ROAD: The adviser on local government, Waseem Akhtar, earlier visited Rashid Minhas Road and described the road’s construction work as ill-planned and poor consultancy.
“Isn’t it amazing that no diversion was made available for the traffic while executing the work,” he remarked.
Expressing his concern that an initial plan of establishing pedestrian bridges at two sites on Rashid Minhas Road was shelved by the former rulers of city government, he directed the officials concerned to ensure that three pedestrian bridges with a provision of ramp for handicapped people must be built on the road, including the one in front of Aladin Park.
Later talking to newsmen, the adviser criticized Jamaat-i-Islami for unleashing negative propaganda against him that he had set up his camp office at the defunct KDA house, where the city government had planned to establish a diagnostic centre.
In fact, the adviser said, he had set up his camp office at KDA house as it was lying unused and as far as planned diagnostic centre was concerned he would ensure that the centre was established. At present, he added, neither the project’s tender had been floated nor its work order had been awarded.
Terming the former city nazim’s current tour of Punjab ‘an act of defaming Sindh and Karachi’, he said that Niamatullah Khan was giving an impression as if the law and order situation of the province and the city was quite poor. Waseem Akhtar said that such utterances had forced Indian cricket team to postpone its visit to Karachi. In this regard, he also quoted the statement of PTI chief who had attributed the postponement of Indian team’s tour to Mr Khan’s remarks about the law and order situation.
The adviser said that Jamaat-i-Islami, which was bent upon creating a law and order situation on the eve of local bodies, would not succeed in its nefarious designs and the provincial government would foil all such conspiracies. He cautioned that if, God forbid, any law and order situation was created on the eve of local bodies polls, the former city nazim would be held responsible as it was his party trying hard to create a law and order situation so that the local bodies polls could not be conducted in a peaceful manner.
