February 11, 2008	Monday	Safar 03, 1429

KARACHI, Feb 10: Although the Karachi city government is building new bridges and flyovers in different localities of the metropolis, it is paying little attention to the dilapidated old bridges, which may cave in or collapse anytime , causing a tragedy worse than the Sher Shah bridge collapse had caused.

Besides a number of bridges and flyovers needing proper maintenance, the city government had identified six bridges that required the immediate structural repair and reinforcement, but so far it has failed to initiate work on any of the six.

The city government is responsible for the repair and maintenance of flyovers and dozens of bridges over the Lyari and Mali rivers, railway tracks and the Orangi and Gujjar nullahs.

According to EDO Works and Services Nisar Sario, six bridges – Quiadabad, Jam Sadiq Ali, Natha Khan, Shershah, ICI and Sohrab Goth – had been identified by the city government for structural changes that included strengthening or changing of slabs. However, he cited various reasons for the delay in repairs of these bridges, which could be termed dangerous. He told Dawn that repairs required closure of these bridges for a long period.

“It is necessary to identify alternative routes for vehicular traffic before initiating maintenance work, and keeping in view Karachi’s traffic, it becomes very difficult for us to close such main links for a long period,” the EDO said.

Experts said the process of structural repair included dismantling and reassembling of expansion joints, jacketing of pillars, reinforcement of slabs, road carpeting etc. They said structural repair of a bridge such as Natha Khan’s would take at least one-and-a-half months to complete provided the work on it was carried out round the clock.

Experts told Dawn that the present and previous leaderships of the city government did not pay necessary attention to maintenance of many bridges in the city and instead took only cosmetic measures.

They said the cost on structural repairs of the six bridges would be so high that the city government could not bear it within its resources. “Neither former city nazim Niamatullah Khan nor present city nazim Mustafa Kamal got such a huge amount from the federal and provincial governments to spend on the rehabilitation or improvement of such old projects,” they added.

An official, seeking anonymity, said the Sindh government had allocated about Rs80 million for improvement and rehabilitation of bridges under its annual development programme, but the amount was insufficient. He added that about Rs80 million to Rs100 million was needed for the repair of Natha Khan bridge alone.

The condition of a number of bridges in the city is not satisfactory, but the authorities concerned are uninterested in their improvement. The condition of the Teen Hatti bridge is a glaring example of official apathy.However, the EDO said maintenance work on other bridges and flyovers was an ongoing process, which included replacement of railings, carpeting, repair of pavement etc.

He said the city government would soon begin repair work on the six identified bridges. “We are consulting traffic police and other stakeholders before closing any of the bridges for repair and the work will begin in a couple of months,” he added.