KARACHI: Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Monday said that the construction of Gulbai Road would not only resolve issues of traffic congestion in the locality but it would promote tourism and recreational activities along the beach.

“The city must be developed in a way to attract tourists by carrying out tourism-oriented development that includes construction of roads leading towards city beaches including Sandspit, Manora, Keamari and historical places like Wazir Mansion, Jinnah House, etc,” he said while presiding over a meeting to review various development schemes launched under the Karachi package.

The meeting was told that reconstruction of 5.25km dual carriageway from Gulbai to Y-junction was being carried out with an estimated cost of Rs1.01 billion and it would be completed within six months.

The chief minister directed the LG department to construct a storm-water drain on both sides of the road.

Expresses displeasure over lack of maintenance of newly built underpasses, flyovers

Mr Shah said that the project was important to open up the area of Hawkesbay and coastal belt for recreational purposes.

He expressed displeasure over the blockage from Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman Road towards Punjab Colony/Sunset Boulevard. “I have already released Rs100 million to pay the occupants of a building which is supposed to be bulldozed to pave way for vehicular traffic. But around one year [has] passed [and] the building has not been demolished,” he said.

The LG minister apprised the CM that Rs30m had been released to deputy commissioner South to pay the compensation and the remaining amount was being provided to take over the building.

Underpasses, flyovers not being maintained

CM Shah said that the provincial government had constructed more than 12 underpasses and flyovers. “Since they have not been handed over to the agencies concerned, they are not being maintained,” he said.

He added that people were sending him messages that water was seeping into Natha Khan, Mehran and some other underpasses.

He directed the LG minister to hand over the underpasses to the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and district municipal corporations concerned and ensure their proper maintenance.

The chief minister said that the construction of a U-turn at Natha Khan bridge with an estimated cost of Rs214.4m was the scheme of last year, but still it had not been completed. “There are serious problems of traffic at Natha Khan which can be solved with the construction of the U-turn,” he said.

He also issued directives for overhauling of the drainage system of I.I. Chundrigar Road and then beautification of the road with lane marking, necessary lighting, installation of signboards, etc.

He also directed the LG department to construct 10 pedestrian bridges in the city for which spots had already been identified and approved.

MoU with Jinnah Society

Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Monday said that people of Sindh were the founders of Pakistan and this was very much evident from the letters Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah had written to his party during the 1940s.

This he said while speaking at a ceremony to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Sindh culture department and Jinnah Society to turn Quaid-i-Azam House as a Nation Building Institute.

The ceremony was attended by Culture Minister Syed Sardar Shah, Arts Council president Ahmed Shah, architect Shahid Abdullah, Liaquat H. Merchant, Ikram Sehgal and others.

“I have been personally a beneficiary of the Quaid-i-Azam Aligarh Scholarship when I was going for masters abroad. I had applied for the scholarship and Liaquat H. Merchant had conducted my interview some 35 years ago and approved it [the scholarship],” he recalled.

He added Mr Merchant had promised to provide him with a copy of the letter in which he had approved the scholarship which was no more with him.

Mr Shah said that when he was in the opposition in 2002 he visited the archives department where he saw the collection of Quaid-i-Azam’s letters compiled by Khalid Shamsul Hassan.

“The letters Quaid-i-Azam had written to his party [leaders] were of great interest and an immense learning experience that one gets from them,” he said, adding: “When he [Quaid] was making the country there were intrigues and how he had handled them was the height of his political wisdom, sagacity and farsightedness and we must learn from the experiences of our elders because even today we are facing such intrigues.”

Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2021