Karachi Blog

City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal inaugurated the newly constructed Hasrat Mohani Model Park with a mini zoo in Union Council (UC) 6 of the Shah Faisal Town, on late Saturday evening.

Addressing an audience of thousands, Kamal said the process of accountability would remain functional and those who cannot work honestly better stay home.

He added that for laying water and sewerage lines in the metropolis, development projects of Rs16 billion were in progress. He also said that amount spent on these projects has started retrieving in the form of foreign direct investment (FDI) in IT Tower, Karachi Elevated Expressway (KEE) and several other development projects.

Kamal congratulated the residents and town administration on completion of the model park with its mini zoo. He expressed satisfaction over the ongoing development work in the town and applauded the efforts of the Town Nazim and his team in this regard.

The city Nazim optimistically said that in a very short period of time, these town Nazims have done a remarkable job which others could not do even in last 59 years.

Construction work on four flyovers in Karachi worth millions of rupees has been started by the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) from Saturday.

According to informed sources, these are: Nagan Chowrangi, Gulshan Chowrangi, Johar Chowrangi and Askari Chowrangi. The estimated cost of Nagan Chowrangi flyover is Rs 500 million and the cost of other three projects is Rs 450 million each.

City government claims that once these flyovers are completed there would be signal-free corridor from Nagan Chowrangi to Karachi airport. At present there exists a signal-free corridor from SITE to Sharea Faisal.

These are the first flyovers in Karachi which have been started without any tendering process to save time for facilitating the citizens. The consultants have been hired and soil testing of these flyovers has been started.

This is for the first time that the CDGK has adopted this methodology for the completion of these projects without causing delays owing to various kinds of hurdles. It is hoped that soil testing will be completed in a month and during this period tendering process will be completed.

Sources, however, added that with the passage of time adjustments could be made in these projects.

The Jinnah Garden, union council (UC) 1, Malir Town will soon have street-lights and within Rs50,000, said Nazim Malir Town, Ansar Ahmed Sheikh.

During the inauguration ceremony of the water pipeline project in the area, Sheikh said that every house in the vicinity will receive water at their doorstep. According to a press release issued on Thursday, the spokesperson stated that the budget for the road of the UC1 has been approved and they were waiting for the completion of the water pipeline project to start the work. The town nazim stated that the town administration was working in every UC without any discrimination and the project of sewerage pipeline at Jaffar Tiyar Society, worth Rs25 million is an example of it. Furthermore, the recent development works conducted in Malir town were never done before. He also said that Rs70 million were spent on the projects at Model Colony, UC1 and no such example was available in the past to compare it with the work conducted by the current town administration.

SHAH FAISAL TOWN: The Nazim Shah Faisal Town, Mohammad Imran has directed his staff to remove sewerage lines from storm water drains. He said this while inspecting the ongoing fumigation and anti-malarial campaign during his visit to the UCs of the town. He stated that the cleanliness drive will remain active till the drains are completely cleaned. He instructed his team to take all possible measures to facilitate the people with a clean and healthy environment and the concerned department was ordered to immediately dispose solid wastes taken out of these drains during their cleanliness campaign so that the public has no complaints.

BALDIA TOWN: The town administration of Baldia Town was using all available resources to facilitate the people of the town, said Nazim Baldia Town, Kamran Akhtar on Thursday. A press release issued by the town administration said that they were focussing on every issue related to the town and were facilitating people without any discrimination. While inspecting the C.C Flooring project at the UC 4-F and 4-G, the town nazim stated that such a project will provide a base for a fundamental infrastructure of the town.

LYARI TOWN: The Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA) has warned the public to stop the selling and purchasing of shops that are part of the Karachi Financial Tower Project (KFTP).

A press release said that the KBCA has declared the advertisement and selling of the shops under the KFTP illegal, especially since they don’t have an NOC. .

In addition to the warning, partition walls of fifth and sixth floor and roof of plot No 744, street no. 15/16, E Road Bahar Colony, Lyari town were demolished by KBCA as it was illegal.

SITE TOWN: The SITE town municipal administration has launched a cleanliness campaign. According to a media release.

KARACHI: From the very first working day after the closure of I I Chundrigar Road to public transport, the passengers of this route suffered an hours-long traffic jam and several traffic gridlocks on the diverted route from Merewether Tower towards M. A Jinnah Road for multiple reasons. The traffic police personnel had a tough time in the field under scorching heat, and few said in the light of past experience the given diversion was not a wise decision.

A survey of the alternative routes revealed that the traffic from Keemari and West Wharf was diverted at Jinnah Bridge towards ICI bridge up to Baghdadi Chowk from where it used Ghulam Allana Road through the Kharadar Jamaat Khana up to Merewether Tower from where it was again diverted to M. A. Jinnah Road till Memon Masjid and from there it was diverted on Shahrea Liaquat towards Aram Bagh Chowk on Baba-e-Urdu Road from where it joined its old route.

Things didn’t work as planned by the traffic police and the city government who according to DIG traffic made this plan after coordination between them. The traffic was diverted from ICI Bridge at Baghdadi Chowk and from there on it was diverted towards Kharadar Jamaat Khana where the traffic remained jammed for more than half-an-hour due to a gridlock at the main Tower. On further movement it was noted that at Tower the traffic could not be allowed through immediately. The vehicles parked in double lanes on the road along railway warehouse occupied most of the road and what worsened the situation even further was the cars and motorcyclists who drove into the third lane on MA Jinnah Road that was supposed to be used by traffic coming towards Tower just at the beginning of M. A Jinnah Road.

Sergeants present on the spot didn’t seem happy at all and when asked, they behaved as if they had been punished by the authorities. “I have not been able to move an inch since morning,” said another sergeant at Baghdadi Chowk. On condition of anonymity, he said, “We are just asked to regulate traffic whatever the situation but the authorities never think about our problems.” He further said that they did not even have masks to protect themselves against air pollution.

The other factors that contributed in traffic blockades were the U-turns taken by cars and motorcyclists blocking the traffic from the opposite side and the parking along M. A Jinnah Road and Shahrea Liaquat. In addition to this, the non-mechanised commercial vehicles also halted the flow of traffic on the alternate route. The motorcyclists were complaining of open manholes and sewage accumulated at some points on the alternative roads. The pedestrians also suffered and mainly complained against non-stop pressure horns and the thick smoke-emitting from old, rickety buses.

Those in cars used Mumtaz Hassan Road and Maulvi Tameezuddin Road for both commuting and parking while few made their way over the rubble of the dug-up road to their offices. It may be worth mentioning here that Rauf Siddiqi declared M. A. Jinnah Road a No-parking zone, but many vehicles were seen parked on this road. When contacted, the DIG traffic said, “I don’t have a big strength of traffic personnel, which makes things difficult for me. Besides, this violation (illegal parking) is always on the cards in all big cities of the world”.

KARACHI: The Sindh Environment & Alternate Energy Department on Monday started free checkups of smoke-emitting vehicles in the metropolis. More than 150 vehicles were checked through smoke analyzing instruments, on a voluntarily basis, on the first day of the campaign.

Sindh Minister for Environment & Alternate Energy Dr Saghir Ahmed said that the government was not only was taking revolutionary and visible steps for the eradication of air pollution but was also providing fitness checkup facilities to people on a voluntarily basis to promote awareness about the harms of traffic smoke.

He observed that the air pollution caused by vehicle smoke causes diseases like asthma, bronchitis, heart and lung disorders and skin diseases. The vehicles discharge carbon mono-oxide with engine smoke that, which mixes with the blood and absorbs oxygen. This causes suffocation, headache, mental weakness, faintness and can even lead to death, he added.

Dr Saghir said that the patrol or diesel used in vehicles as fuel generates gas that has hundreds of thousands of carbons in it including carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, Sulphur oxide, as well as particles of carbon and lead. More than 30 percent of the vehicles plying on the roads discharge extra smoke, due to old engines and the failure to overhaul them.

Therefore, the minister said, people should get their vehicle engines overhauled after the prescribed period and should also stop using adulterated fuels. He said public cooperation was a must in efforts to strop growing air pollution.

KARACHI: The beautification work at the most important road of Karachi, I I Chundrigar is to start just after Rabil-ul-Awwal 12. The DIG Traffic has also assured to give a traffic diversion plan in this regard.

Informed sources told The News that a religious party has requested the government and the traffic police to keep the roads clear and open for this religious occasion. They don’t want to have any kind of hindrance in their celebrations. The traffic police, State Bank steering committee and the CDGK have agreed to this proposal but are firm that work will for sure commence on April 1.

The DIG traffic busy in VVIP movements and chalking out plan for 12th Rabi-ul-awwal assured that now there would be no delay by all means. Sources told The News that the State Bank Governor is also concerned over the delay of the project and is persuading all the authorities to expedite the work. Traffic police has kept a condition that the beautification project can only start when the sewerage lines being laid down on the Ziauddin Ahmed Road is completed.

Sources said that plans are underway to take business community into confidence and explain the causes for the delay in of the project. On a question as to what kind of beautification will be done on this road, there was no satisfactory reply and was told that said let the work start once.

KARACHI: The metropolis received intermittent rain showers on Monday and a pleasant climate was experienced by the citizens.

The spell of rain with breezy weather was experienced due to the westerly low-pressure system, which after causing heavy spells of rain in most parts of Balochistan especially in its coastal areas has brought widespread showers in lower and upper Sindh.

The cloudy and highly overcast weather in the city especially in the early morning hours by and large prevented Karachiites from observing the partial solar eclipse, the first astronomical phenomenon of its kind occurring in 2007.

Muhammad Shahid Qureshi, in-charge of the University of Karachi’s Institute of Space and Planetary Astrophysics, said that through observatory of the institute, he could verify occurring of the solar phenomenon only for 20 seconds due to the heavily cloudy sky around the city.

The partial solar eclipse was supposed to occur in the city from 5:38 am to 9:32 am on Monday with its peak time to be observed at 7:32 am. The Metrological Department recorded the maximum quantity of rain of 53 millimetre at its North Karachi observatory. The Met Office’s observatories in PAF Base Masroor recorded 17 millimetre rain followed by 10.3 mm at the Gulistan-e-Jauhar observatory.

Localities of Malir, Gulishan-e-Iqbal, Gadap, areas along Super Highway and National Highway, North Karachi, Nazimabad, North Nazimabad, Liaquatabad, FB Area and adjoining areas received relatively heavy spell of rain in the daytime. The rain in most areas of the city started around 12 pm and drizzle continued till late in the noon.

Roads, arteries, and streets in many areas were seen in bad shape after the rain as non-drainage of rainwater caused mud and smalls puddles of water causing considerable hardships for pedestrians and motorcyclists.

Most parts of the city had sunny and clear weather situation in the aftermath of the drizzling spell. The minimum and maximum temperatures recorded in the city were 22.0 Centigrade and 28.0 Centigrade respectively with 66 per cent humidity in the atmosphere.

The Met has forecast partly cloudy weather in the city on Tuesday (today) with minimum temperature expected to range between 20 degrees Centigrade to 22 degrees Centigrade. An official of the Met told The News that chances of further rain in the city in the next 24 hours are minimal as the weather system has moved towards upper Sindh.

KARACHI: The beautification of Karachi’s I I Chundrigar road is scheduled to start by March 23, provided all Traffic police authorities in Karachi give the go ahead.

The State Bank steering committee, who holds the finances of the project, is trying to hold a meeting with traffic police on Monday, who were not available due to light a drizzle in the city. Informed sources said they are aware that the delay in the project is causing hardships to people, particularly the business community, and they have lost confidence on the committee. Replying to a question that if the work does not commence on Thursday night then what would happen, sources said the project would be abandoned.

Sources told The News that the State Bank Governor is concerned over the delay of the project and is persuading all the authorities to expedite the work. The committee wanted to present a new road map to traffic police and pursue them to agree with the new plan.

Traffic police has kept a condition that sewerage lines being laid down on Ziauddin Ahmed road be completed before the beautification project be started. On the other hand, the contractor, who has placed all his machinery and bulldozers on the site and is ready to work from Merewether tower to Wallace Bridge has started correspondence with SBP steering committee. Now he is ready to commence but neither the city government nor the Steering committee allowed him to do so, resulting in a loss so far for the firm. The SBP has written letters to various businesses on I I Chundrigar to pool money for the project, but this has further delayed the process.

Sources agreed and said they are correct and now they are planning to construct a website where they would apprise the public about progress. Replying to another question, he agreed that the traffic police wanted work on Zia Ud din Ahmed road be completed first, then the beautification work should start. The estimated cost of the project is Rs. 210 million, and the beatification plan of I I Chundrigar road was made in 2006.

KARACHI: City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal laid the foundation stone for the installation of a storm water drain in Bath Island on Thursday.

The project cost is Rs90 million.

The City Nazim had announced to resolve storm water drain problem in the area on a permanent basis when the last monsoon struck and the entire locality was inundated with rainwater for weeks.

In his speech, Kamal said they had spent nights in the area during the last monsoon rains as some of the streets were inundated by rainwater but the city government staff did not leave the area from the Day One.

“We had conducted a thorough survey in the area and started this project on proper planning to remove rainwater from this area on permanent basis.

Through this storm water drainage system, the rainwater will flow into sea as the entire project will be complete within three months”, he said.

He added that they had started work on the laying of a new sewerage line as previous pipeline line was laid some 55-years ago and before it they had also initiated new water pipeline project in front of Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre.

He said the present city government had taken storm water drain issue of this area very seriously and initiated work which would resolve the problem for the next 50-100 years.