KARACHI, Feb 4 Amidst the greetings and cheers of the audience, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan inaugurated on Wednesday evening a five-kilometre-long bridge constructed over the Malir River.

The new bridge will connect major parts of city with Landhi, Korangi, Korangi Industrial Area and Defence.

The bridge, said to be the longest in the city, is built by the City District Government Karachi at a cost of Rs1.22 billion over three years.

Karachi Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal accompanied the governor at the inauguration ceremony.

The governor addressed a public meeting at Azeempura, Shah Faisal Colony, after performing the inauguration.

Dr Ibad said that he felt great pleasure over the inauguration of the bridge, as he had laid the foundation stone for the bridge in 2005 and was now inaugurating it after its completion. He said the new bridge would provide considerable convenience to the entire city, adding that the bridge had shortened the journey for the people of Korangi Town, Landhi Town and Shah Faisal Colony when travelling to the city centre.

The city nazim said that the construction of the Malir River bridge, the longest in the city, had changed the idea of “people from across the bridge”, and now people living in areas like Clifton and DHA, who never thought of making the long drive to other localities Liaquatabad and New Karachi, were frequently visiting these areas. He said this was due to the presence of flyovers, underpasses and corridors built by his city government.

Thousands of people had flooded the Korangi 8,000 Road in the evening to greet the governor and the city nazim at the Singer Chowrangi at the time of the inauguration. Chanting slogans and holding MQM flags and portraits of MQM chief Altaf Hussain in their hands, the crowd also followed the two dignitaries while they visited the bridge.