October 05, 2008	Sunday	Shawwal 05, 1429

KARACHI, Oct 4: The signal-free corridor-II will be inaugurated within a week, City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal said while inspecting development work on the Gulshan and Nagan Chowrangi flyovers on Friday night.

After the inauguration, all roads and flyovers constituting the corridor-II would be opened to public, he said.

He noted with pleasure that the city government officers and workers, along with the employees of the contractors, remained on duty on Thursday and Friday, officially declared public holidays on account of Eidul Fitr.

They preferred to help complete the project on time by sacrificing two of their Eid holidays, the nazim observed appreciating the gesture.

Mr Kamal said that with the completion of the corridor-II, one more promise made to the people of Karachi would stand fulfilled.

Commenting on the city government’s performance, he said that like the projects relating to the corridor-I, the five flyovers and many U-turns along the corridor-II had been completed in less than a year.

The nazim expressed his displeasure over the inordinate delay in the completion of the Gulshan flyover construction, acknowledging that people of the area and commuters had been facing hardship as a routine for months due to the slow pace of work on this project. He held out the assurance that the work would now be completed speedily. He, maintained that the responsibility of the delay rested with the contractor concerned. “Otherwise the project would have been completed within eight months,” he said.

The city nazim issued directives for starting carpeting of roads and installation of lights immediately, besides removal of debris dumped around the sites of different projects. He also called for plantation and greenery along the green belt of the corridor-II.

Mr Kamal directed the city government officers concerned to take immediate steps for the installation of lights and fixing of cat’s eye all along the corridor — between Sharea Faisal and Surjani Town.

He said that after opening the corridor-II, the city government would start work on the projects linked with the corridor-III.

There are six flyovers built along the corridor-II at Askari-IV, Jauhar Morr, Gulshan Chowrangi, Sohrab Goth and Nagan Chowrangi. The U-turns have been laid at Askari-IV, Rashid Minhas Road, Habib Bank, Sports Complex and Surjani Town.

The city government plans to beautify the corridor by planting thousands of trees and developing green belts all along it.—Agencies