KARACHI, Oct 27: City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal has said that the one track of the underpasses on different locations of Ibne Sina Road had been opened only to facilitate movement of vehicles before Eid while the formal inauguration is scheduled for December.

“The construction work on the three underpasses is still under way and the uneven portion of the Liaquatabad underpass flashed by the media as ‘caved in’ was not actually the damage.

In fact, the portion has not yet been carpeted because an underground pumping station is being developed there,” Mr Kamal clarified after concluding a visit to the three underpasses -- Nazimabad, Liaquatabad No. 10 and Gharibabad -- along with the press corps on Friday.

He explained that the concerned contractor had constructed a drain to direct water towards the pumping station. Water was leaking from the drain and the leakage would stop once the construction work of the pumping station is completed and made functional.

Due to heavy rains and accumulation of water in the tunnels, the level of subsoil water had risen. The water is being pumped out these days for which six pumps have been installed at the site.

“Some minor things happening in a project which is still in the phase of construction cannot be called caving in,” he argued, and said: “Such claims are unjustified and we can only call them a conspiracy or a part of propaganda.”

The city nazim further stated: “I assure my fellow citizens that their elected leadership has been making all-out efforts for the betterment of people and we do not compromise on the pace and standard of our development projects. All that is being done is done with transparency and honesty.” Mr Kamal asserted that no substandard work had been resorted to in the construction of on any portion of the Liaquatabad underpass, and said that no work, whatsoever, had been carried out on the portion cited as ‘damaged’ by the media.

“Much work has to be done on these projects and we will be responsible and accountable for all the shortcomings and deficiencies after these schemes are formally inaugurated,” he said.

He said the propaganda even before the projects having been inaugurated was a conspiracy to bring a halt to the development work, as well as injustice to the city and open enmity with its citizens.

“We condemn such propaganda and request to the citizens not to be misguided by such things masterminded by the elements having a history of enmity with Karachiites and resistance to the city’s development. These elements have always been attempting to mislead our people, but in vain.”

Mr Kamal said similar elements had claimed about the possible mismanagement during Ramazan but their claims about the traffic chaos proved wrong.

“As a matter of fact, this Ramazan proved the most comfortable and relaxed month for the citizens due to our better planning. The media is also witness to the fact that neither I have officially inaugurated these projects nor have we fixed any plaque to show any of them formally opened.”

He said the underpasses were among the biggest and key projects ever executed in the city’s history and after their completion in December, one of the country’s top personalities would inaugurate them.

“We will request President Pervez Musharraf to inaugurate the underpasses,” he added.

The city nazim said that at least four-inch thick carpeting would be carried out on the tracks of the three underpasses.

Syed Mustafa Kamal’s pledge to formally open the underpasses in December is yet another deadline any top official of the city government has set since the launching of these projects in March.

While inaugurating the Nazimabad underpass, he had set a four-month deadline for the completion of all the three underpasses. Later, in July this year, DCO Fazlur Rehman had told media that one track of all the three underpasses would be opened for vehicular traffic in August. Again, just before Ramazan, the city government had announced that the one track of the underpasses would be opened in the first week of Ramazan. The tracks were finally opened by the end of Ramazan but still with much work yet to be done.

Officials in the city government said the contractors would be able to complete the carpeting on the one track in the first half of November.

“The track has not been closed for traffic, it is still open and would be fully functional next month,” said an official.

According to a representatives of the contracting firm, the original deadline of four months could not be met because the relocation of utility services’ lines had prolonged the work.

The DCO, in his talk with the media in July, had lauded the KWSB for undertaking commendable job remarking: “It has created a history by shifting 54- and 33-inch dia old pipelines from the project sites in a record short period of time.” Although, the shifting of KESC’s 11KV line had been an uphill task, but the same had been accomplished without any problem, he had noted.

All the three underpasses are being constructed under the Tameer-i-Karachi Programme at a total cost of Rs852 million. Both the provincial and city governments are sharing the cost equally.

The underpass being built near the Nazimabad Flyover is the longest among them with a length of 750 meters, followed by the Liaquatabad underpass (668 metres) and Gharibabad Underpass (560 metres).

Having a similar depth of 5.2 metres, all the three underpasses will ensure an unhindered flow of vehicular traffic from SITE to the airport, thus saving both time and fuel.