M A JINNAH Road (formerly Bunder Road) is, arguably, the busiest thoroughfare in Karachi. These days, it finds itself getting repaired endlessly because it is dug up from various sides, for purposes of introducing an effective public transport system, causing, for the time being, discomfort to countless citizens who use this road on a daily basis. Something similar, although not on a bigger scale, took place 50 years back when on Oct 13, 1975, it was reported in this newspaper that reconditioning and improvement work on a major section of M A Jinnah Road — between Garden Road and Altaf Hussain Road — had begun. The Rs1.6 million scheme devised by the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) envisaged raising of the road level from six to eight inches and machine carpeting of the 6,700-foot-long portion of the road. Apart from that, converting the section between Mansfield Street and Mohammad bin Qasim Road (Burns Road) into a dual carriage road with a three-foot central island and three traffic lanes on either side from Mansfield Street up to Preedy Street, crossing and onwards up to Maulvi Musafir Khana, were also part of the plan. The width of M A Jinnah Road —at the time — varied between 88 to 112-ft, the minimum being near Garden Road, and the maximum near Maulvi Musafir Khana. Reconditioning of the area between Altaf Hussain Road and Harding Bridge had already been completed. The KMC claimed to have also prepared a scheme for the improvement of the remaining portion of M A Jinnah Road that led up to Shaheed-i-Millat Road near Central Jail.

But fixing the roads were not the only issue which worried the authorities concerned. On Oct 16, it was revealed that despite the fact that the Provincial Building Circle of Sindh had already declared six school buildings in the old city area ‘very dangerous’, the Directorate of School Education had thus far vacated only one of them — Talimgah School at Lea Market. The students and teachers of the other five schools [Church Mission School, Government Girls Secondary School, Teachers Training Institute, Iranian Technical School and Mahnaz School] were living in constant danger of collapse. The directorate said it was helpless in emptying the buildings due to lack of alternate accommodation.

While all of this was going on, the nation remembered of one of its great leaders with respect and fondness. On Oct 16, Begum Ra’ana Liaquat Ali Khan, Governor of Sindh, paid homage to the Quaid-i-Millat Liaquat Ali Khan for his dedicated services to the nation, stressing the need for apprising the young generation of the life and work of all national leaders. She was speaking at a public meeting organised by the Pakistan Awami Ulema Party at Theosophical Hall in memory of the Shaheed-i-Millat on his 24th death anniversary. The governor pointed out that after the death of the Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the country was confronted with several problems, such as the Indian occupation of Hyderabad, the rehabilitation of refugees, destructive activities of non-Muslims, the Kashmir issue and political instability… but the Quaid-i-Millat faced all of them efficiently.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2025