“THEY who set an example make a highway. Others follow the example, because it is easier to travel on a highway than over untrodden grounds,” said an enlightened American politician and educational reformer of the 18th century.

We pass through the Clifton bridge every day in our vehicles. But very few of us realise that besides getting from here to there or from there to here by wheels there are also hundreds of pedestrians taking the same route to get to the other side. It was for the convenience of these very pedestrians that the staircases under the bridge taking one up to it were included in the structure. But judging by their current state, they are never used and are as good as forgotten.

There are ambulances parked on the little track that used to lead to Rafiqui Shaheed Road in Bizerta Lines, Cantt from the Kalapul on Korangi Road. The track has been closed by concrete barriers for months now. There are major city medical facilities such as the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Kidney Centre, National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) and the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) located on Rafique Shaheed Road. This route from Kalapul helped the sick or injured coming in from Landhi or Korangi reach the hospitals quicker. Now they have to go to Sharea Faisal first to then reach a hospital from Regent Plaza hotel side, which is a shame, and quite a brainless thing to do.

There is the Baloch Colony flyover, one of the first few flyovers built in Karachi with several lanes branching out from it. Ironically, two of its narrow tracks from either side of Sharea Faisal have also been blocked. Since it happened soon after the Mehran base terrorist attack, common folk, including those who have set up stalls in front of the tracks, now say that it is because of the attack. They believe that the path provided a shortcut or easy getaway for the terrorists, which is a very absurd explanation because Mehran base, or even Karsaz for that matter, is at quite a distance from here.

Then we come to the Bahria Town Icon Tower underpass in Clifton. One of its tracks is blocked as well. People there say that it will be opened when the building is ready for occupation as the track leads to its parking lot inside Bagh Ibne Qasim. This bit of information from the people in this instance seems believable.

DIG-Traffic Asif Aijaz Shaikh explains to Dawn about the closed roads and tracks that it is not done on a whim or just like that. “There is a good reason for taking such a step,” he says. “The decision is taken after looking at the issue from all angles by the Traffic Engineering Bureau comprising traffic police, deputy commissioners, local administration such as the KMC or KDA with several engineers and technocrats,” he explains.

“Some roads or tracks may be closed because of bad design such as the Baloch Colony flyover track. It was creating terrible traffic congestion, so it had to be closed.”

Published in Dawn October 16th, 2016