KARACHI, Jan 18: A major operation aimed at retrieving over 255 acres of land, meant for the much-delayed 16.5-kilometre long Lyari Expressway (from Mauripur to Sohrab Goth), will begin from Monday.

The land to be retrieved will be handed over to the National Highway Authority for starting work on the Lyari Expressway Project. The project, costing Rs5 billion on its completion, will provide a separate motorway to heavy vehicular traffic which will either originate at Karachi Port or enter the city through the Super Highway to proceed towards the port area.

All those who will be evacuated from the site of Lyari Expressway project will be given alternative plots (each measuring 80 square yards) in Baldia, Hawkesbay and Surjani, the city government sources said, adding that between 71,000 and 72,000 families (each comprising six members) would be rehabilitated at the townships.

The evacuation process will be undertaken in different phases by the city government’s revenue department and the entire exercise will be completed in two to three months.

In the first phase, all those occupying land along the Lyari River belt (from Mauripur to Shershah) will be evacuated, for which the city government has already set up camps.

The officials had already started making announcements from the area mosques, requesting the occupants of the project’s land to vacate their houses and other commercial concerns, besides taking their belongings with them latest by Sunday.

In view of the nature of the operation, which involves shifting of as many as 11,964 housing units (5000 kutcha/pucca houses and about 7,000 concrete houses), 1035 commercial concerns and 42 others, (which include mosques and a mazar), from the entire belt of the river — from Mauripur Bridge to Sohrab Goth — the demolition process of the encroachments will be monitored by Rangers and Army personnel.

The revenue department’s deputy district officer, Salman Faridi, said the Nazims of all the 18 towns of the city had been requested to give 80 per cent staff of their anti-encroachment units at the disposal of the city government’s special squad, set up for removing encroachments from the river belt.

Giving details of the land from where all sorts of encroachments will be removed during the operation, he said the area spread over 255.29 acres of land and of this only 32 acres had been leased out, while the remaining land was encroached upon.

The federal government had already accorded approval to the plan and the same is expected to be completed in three years.

The Lyari Expressway, which will be constructed all along the Lyari River belt, will be a dual carriage way, each having a width of 30 metres, besides a fencing will be erected on either side of the river to provide protection to vehicular traffic as well as to prevent further encroachment in the river.