KARACHI, Oct 22: City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal opened one track of three underpasses currently being built at Nazimabad, Liaquatabad and Gharibabad to facilitate vehicular traffic going from SITE to Hassan Square.
While performing the opening of underpasses late Saturday night, Mustafa Kamal said, “Ongoing development projects at SITE-Sharea Faisal corridor would be completed this year after which new projects would be initiated.”
He said that the underpasses being built at Ibn-i-Sina Road were the biggest ever constructed in the country.
The nazim, who came from Nazimabad to Gharibabad, told newsmen that the development process initiated in Karachi would never end. “After completion of these projects, Karachi would emerge among the most developed cities of the world.”
He said that all the three underpasses had three lines. The length of Nazimabad underpass was 768 meters and its estimated cost was Rs360 million while 667-meter-long Liaquatabad underpass would cost Rs350 million and 560-meter-long Gharibabad underpass would be completed at a cost of Rs220 million, he added.
The work on Liaquatabad underpass kicked off on March 9 and Nazimabad underpass on March 11 this year.
Addressing the opening ceremony, Mustafa Kamal said: “Today I would like to congratulate the people of Karachi who endured hardships and inconvenience during the completion process of these projects. Now the time has come to derive maximum benefits from these projects,” he said.
He said after opening of one of the tracks of these underpasses, distance from SITE to Hasan Square could be covered in few minutes.
The nazim said that work on these projects never stopped even for a single minute while people showed immense patience and he thanked the citizens for the same.
“These projects would have been completed long before but as we dug the ground we found that only 25 per cent utility services were existent, the missing services had to be provided which caused the delays,” he noted.
He said that the replacement of utility lines including water, sewerage, electricity and telephone which were very old would have taken at least two years if the work was carried out in a conventional way, he said and cited the example of bridges at Liaquatabad and Nazimabad built in nine and four years respectively. The work on three underpasses was carried out round-the-clock, which accelerated the completion of these underpasses, he added.
Mustafa Kamal said that the city government presented two gifts to the citizens; one in Ramazan in the shape of proper traffic management which ensured no traffic jams during the holy month and another gift on Eid in the form of opening of one track of the underpasses.
“Not only the present generation will be benefited from these underpasses but people will keep reaping their fruits for the next 50 years,” he added.
The nazim said that the development projects in the city had not been started in a haphazard manner but there was a vision behind all these projects. The economic condition of areas, where the projects were being executed, would be transformed completely as there would be noticeable increase in economic activities there, he pointed out.
He said that about 60 per cent population of the city would be facilitated with these underpasses as people of Orangi Town, Nazimabad, SITE, Baldia, Liaquatabad, Gulshan-i-Iqbal and New Karachi Towns will travel through these underpasses everyday.
DCO Fazlur Rehman, Liaquatabad Town Nazim Osama Qadri and others were present at the opening ceremony.—PPI/APP
KARACHI, Oct 22: City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal opened one track of three underpasses currently being built at Nazimabad, Liaquatabad and Gharibabad to facilitate vehicular traffic going from SITE to Hassan Square.
