KARACHI, Oct 23: Reconstruction work of the 1.22-km-long ruined portion of Nishtar Road (between the Tin Hatti and Lasbella traffic intersections) was inaugurated on Tuesday.
The City Nazim, Naimatullah Khan, performing the inauguration ceremony, pledged that the hydrants, because of which the road was ruined, would not be allowed to operate again.
Nishtar Road has been lying unmotorable for almost two decades due to 24- hour movement of water tankers which drew water from a number of hydrants situated all along the Lyari riverbed. So motorists proceeding towards the Tin Hatti and Lasbella intersections either way have no choice but to take a long route either via the Nazimabad Chowrangi No 1 and the Guru Mandir roundabout to reach their destinations beyond Lasbella or Tin Hatti.
It was the third occasion during the last two years that similar ceremonies had been organized. Initially, work on Nishtar Road had begun in December 1999 on the orders of then Sindh chief secretary Zubair Ahmed Kidwai, after sealing of the hydrants. But work was abandoned only after a couple of days due to bureaucratic wranglings.
The road’s reconstruction again began on September 30, 2000, after the Sindh Minister of Local Bodies, Dewan Mohammed Farooq, unveiled the plaque of the project. This time the road’s reconstruction work was scheduled to be completed by March 3, 2001, but the defunct KMC had cancelled the contract of the construction firm on February 28, 2001 (only three days prior to the road’s completion date) on a charge that the firm was using inferior quality material.
Speaking to a big gathering near the Teen Hatti bridge, the City Nazim assured that the city government would complete the reconstruction of the battered road by July 22, 2002.
When a reporter told him that similar commitments had been made twice earlier, Mr Khan said: “This time we will ensure that the road’s reconstruction work is accomplished on the scheduled date,” and remarked that “he has not got his name inscribed on the project’s plaque prior to the completion of the project.”
He also announced that the reconstruction work of Nishtar Road’s another 4.47-km portion (from Lasbella to Nigar Cinema) would be undertaken simultaneously, with the 1.22-km-long portion of the same road, at an estimated cost of Rs41.45 million.
He said the city government’s officials would pay regular visits to Nishtar Road to ensure quality work of both the projects as well as their completion on time.
OTHER PROJECTS: Highlighting other projects of the city government, he said the development works which were being given priority included a central park at the old Sabzimandi, construction of a flyover at the Sharea Faisal-FTC traffic intersection, reconstruction of Rashid Minhas Road (from Sharea Faisal to Drive-in Cinema), Mauripur Road, Mehran Highway-Landhi, Sharea Ibn Sina, improvement of Bacha Khan Chowk, reconstruction of Orangi to Madinat-ul-Hikmah Road, improvement and redesigning of the Guru Mandir roundabout, reconstruction of the road from Abdullah College to Bacha Khan Chowk.
These projects, he said, would be undertaken on a priority basis.
The ceremony was attended, among others, by the City Naib (deputy) Nazim, Tariq Hasan, DCO Shafiqur Rahman Paracha, Nazims of Jamshed and Gulshan-i-Iqbal towns, Ahmed Parekh and Abdul Wahab, respectively, and a large number of union Nazims and councillors.