=> KARACHI: Slow work on all four flyovers linked to
KARACHI: Slow work on all four flyovers linked to the signal-free corridor II means that they are unlikely to open on Dec 31, a week away, as promised by the city nazim. Instead, some major changes are being made and the roads will take at least three months more before they open for traffic.
The former plan for the flyover at Allama Shabbir Ahmed Usmani Road included two loops to divert traffic towards Sohrab Goth and Nipa through Rashid Minhas Road, said sources from the Works and Services Department. “But last week the city government dropped these two loops without giving any reason,” he said.
The four-lane 334-meter bridge is being built at an estimated cost of Rs 391.5 million and is being supervised by District Officer Ansar Zaidi, who told Daily Times that they had moved all underground utility services which means the work should speed up.
He also confirmed changes in the original plan and added that one of the U-turns has already been built near the bridge on Rashid Minhas Road for traffic towards Nipa but he did not have any information as to why the other loop towards Sohrab Goth was dropped.
“We will be in a position to clarify this within the next couple of days,” he said.
The signal-free corridor II consists of four flyovers on the five-kilometre long Rashid Minhas Road, including Millennium Mall near Askari IV, Johar Morr, Gulshan Chowrangi and Nagan Chowrangi. The three-lane flyover near Millennium Mall near Askari IV (265 meters) will be completed at an estimated cost of Rs 249 million.
WSD District Officer Khalid Masroom told Daily Times that the progress on this project is satisfactory as two roofs out of nine have been installed and the work on the ramps on both sides is also in full swing.
“Beside this, work on Johar Morr Flyover is over 70 percent done as the installation of girders will start in the next two to three days,” he said. The three-lane bridge on Johar Morr will cost Rs 250.2 million.
Responding a question regarding the incomplete alternate routes for regular traffic, he said that they had done most of the work to provide hurdle-free movement around these projects but at some places the patchwork was incomplete. EDO Works and Services Nisar Sario had announced two months ago that these routes would be ready but so far the service road around Askari IV bridge is a major blockade. “The entire surroundings have become a pothole-filled road and neither small vehicles like cars and motorcycles nor the heavy ones like buses and trucks can pass easily,” complained Roshan Khan, a mini-bus driver.
Work on the fourth flyover is hardly 40 percent done. District Officer S. M. Taha told Daily Times that they had completed pilling work and moved underground utility service lines. “Work will speed up soon,” he claimed.
A majority of the labour working on different sites of the signal-free corridor II hail from different parts of the interior of Sindh and Punjab and thus went home for the Eid holidays. The work is expected to pick up as they return this week. “The entire five-kilometer long project from Shahrah-e-Faisal to New Karachi will be opened for traffic in early March 2008 as the city nazim announced Dec 31 as a pressure tactic for contractors and city government officials,” a source said.
Source: Daily Times
Date:12/25/2007
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