KARACHI, Jan 15: Authorities have restarted the demolition work for Lyari Expressway Project that was suspended some six months back. The demolition work for the project was stopped due to protest rallies staged by inhabitants of the project site who opposed the modifications in the project design and urged the government to construct the proposed expressway according to the 1995 design.

An official of the city government confirmed that the demolition work was started on Rashid Minhas Road section on Wednesday. He said that the houses located near Sir Shah Sulaiman Bridge might also be demolished to pave the way for the project.

However, the official said that it was stopped on Thursday to carry out survey work on the site. He said that the demolition work would be restarted on Friday after carrying out the survey.

He said President Musharraf during his last visit to Karachi had urged the concerned department to expedite the work on Lyari Expressway project. Work on the project commenced last year and it was expected to be completed in Oct 2004. However, there was a resentment among the residents, who urged the authorities to implement the original plan. The government also announced a rehabilitation plan, however, the people kept on opposing the plan by staging rallies. This prodded authorities to stop the work and after sometime it was resumed.

The original plan of the project was conceived by the defunct KMC and it was designed by a UAE-based Consortium known as "Consortium Group-IV", who had offered the financial package on BOT basis in 1996. Later, the plan was dropped.

However, after the military takeover, the chief executive took personal interest in the execution of the project and it was handed over to the National Highway Authority (NHA) for execution.