KARACHI, Oct 24: Just three days after the opening of one track of the Liaquatabad underpass, a portion of it caved in on Tuesday apparently due to the substandard material used in the construction.

The portion developed several craters rendering the road unusable for traffic movement. On its part, the city government has maintained that “a few craters have developed on the road because carpeting had not yet been done.” It said that the carpeting would be done soon.

Meanwhile, the traffic police have temporarily closed the underpass for heavy traffic in view of the possibility of any accident.

A visit to the affected portion of the underpass, which was inaugurated by City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal three days back, showed that the craters were badly affected the smooth flow of traffic as drivers of the vehicles enter the underpass were facing problems in passing through it at a normal speed due to the ditches and the poor visibility owing to inadequate light inside.

At least a 30-feet-long portion of the underpass has developed small and big craters. “This is not an extraordinary situation as such things happen when a road is left without carpeting for some reasons. The road will be restored to its normal position through carpeting, which will be done within a few days,” a senior city government official said.

Inquiries show that the construction work of the underpass was completed in a hurry to meet the deadline set by the city government to inaugurate the facility before Eid.

A spokesman for the Friends Syndicate, which has been granted the contract for the construction of Liaquatabad underpass, admitted that the construction work on this project had not been completed so far. He maintained that the underpass had been opened for traffic in order to ensure a smooth flow on Ibn-i-Sina Road on an emergency basis before Eid.

He described the craters that have developed on the road as ‘a normal phenomenon’, and said that the damaged portion would be repaired soon.

According to sources, the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board had cautioned the city government that the underground water level in the area was high and might cause such a damage but the city government did not take the warning seriously.

Rejecting the impression that the caution had not been heeded, some city government officials said although the underground water level in the area happened to be high and was creating some problems, the city government had decided to continue with the work after taking remedial measures, including boring of wells along the underpass and installing electrical pumps to drain out the water, accumulating in the underground, into these wells.

The visit also reveals that there is no proper lighting system in the covered portion of the underpass which remains dark even in the daytime.

A traffic police official deputed at the Liaquatabad traffic check post said that the craters, coupled with the absence of proper light, had increased the risk of accidents, prompting the traffic police to close the underpass route temporarily.

City government officials said that there was a room for improvement in the lighting system, but blamed the low voltage in power supply for the poor light inside. As soon as the full voltage was available, the problem would stand solved, they said.

A visit to the newly constructed Nazimabad underpass also suggested that substandard material had been used in its construction as craters were seen in the middle of the road all along it, hampering a smooth flow of traffic on it.—Online