January 24, 2008	Thursday	Muharram 14, 1429

KARACHI, Jan 23: The North Nazimabad Town municipal administration has allowed an international pizza chain to set up an outlet on land earmarked for a traffic island under the city’s master plan, Dawn has learnt.

The structure of the Pizza Hut outlet has already been raised on the island which is located near the Board Office intersection, one of the city’s busiest crossings. However, neither the Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA) nor the city’s master plan group of offices (MGPO) have so far taken any action or even voiced concern over the violation of the city’s master plan, apparently in the name of political expedience.

The importance of this triangular island can be gauged from the fact that on one side, it faces the main Shahrah-i-Shershah Suri, used every day by hundreds of thousands of vehicles going towards the various areas of North Nazimabad, North Karachi, Buffer Zone, New Karachi and Surjani Town. On the other side, the island faces the busy Shahrah-i-Chishty, which leads to Banaras Chowk and Orangi Town via the Abdullah College roundabout. Meanwhile, the North Nazimabad traffic police section is housed on one corner of the traffic island, facing Shahrah-i-Chishty.

North Nazimabad Town Nazim Mumtaz Hameed told Dawn that in fact, the proprietors of Pizza Hut had been allowed to set up the outlet on a purely temporary basis and had therefore been asked to raise the structure without using concrete. “They have used only steel, glass, fibre-glass and bolts and whenever the island is required for a future scheme or road expansion, it will be vacated,” he said.

‘Beautification scheme’

Mr Hameed said that a contract had been signed with the franchise’s representatives but he did not remember whether it was for three or five years. “The handsome amount of money paid to the North Nazimabad town municipal administration as a monthly rent, meanwhile, will be used exclusively for welfare-oriented projects in the town,” he added.

Defending his decision to allow the outlet on land reserved under the city’s master plan, Mr Hameed said that it was part of his beautification scheme and other multi-national fast-food chains would also be invited through open bidding to set up outlets on the remaining portions of the island. “This move will beautify the environment on the one hand and on the other prevent encroachers from grabbing the land,” he explained.

The Board Office intersection is already very busy and the volume of traffic is expected to significantly increase once an upcoming high-rise building, Saima Bridge View, starts using the intersection as its vehicular entry/exit point. Asked whether the presence of such popular fast-food franchises would worsen the traffic tangle, Mr Hameed said that “of course, once the project is complete, proper traffic and parking arrangements will have to be made to meet the demand of growing numbers of vehicles.” Dawn drew the nazim’s attention towards the severe traffic jams that already take place every day on Shahrah-i-Chishty, particularly near Jinnah Women’s University, the marriage lawns and the island. Mr Hameed responded that the road would be widened to ensure the smooth flow of traffic by reducing its central island since it had to be synchronised with the flyover being built at Banaras Chowk.