KARACHI: Greeting the opening of the first phase of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Malir Expressway, Pasban Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Altaf Shakoor here Sunday asked the federal, provincial and city governments to give special focus on poor infrastructure of the megacity and grant more funding in this regard.
He said that opening of the Malir expressway is good news for the people of the megacity and credit goes to PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto and Sindh chief minister Murad Ali Shah. He said Karachi needs dozens of projects of this size to ease traffic jams. He said Lyari Expressway is the major project for easing port-related traffic congestion, but sadly it is not being opened for heavy traffic which was the basic purpose for building this expressway. He said the Green Line BRT project is also incomplete as work has been halted for many years on its second phase from Mazar-e-Quaid to Tower. He urged Bilawal Bhutto to take his personal efforts for getting the Lyari Expressway opened for heavy traffic and completion of the second phase of Green Line BRT. He asked that all BRT projects of the megacity should be interlinked for facilitating commuters.
Altaf Shakoor said without removing encroachments from roads the purpose of a smooth traffic flow could never be achieved. He said roads in Karachi are encroached badly and the government is only taking cosmic steps and eyewash operations to remove them. He said after every such operation these encroachments reappear within a few days as police get bhatta from the encroachers and shy away from registering FIRs against them.
He said roadside encroachments in Liaquatabad from Liaquatabad No 10 to Teen Hatti are glaring examples in this regard.
He said the government functionaries and traffic police has allowed transporters to illegally occupy green belts of the Superhighway from Suhrab Goth to Punjab bus Adda. These transporters have erected illegal compounds over green belts of Superhighway with alleged patronage of Sindh government and police officers. He urged Bilawal Bhutto to pay notice of illegal occupation of the green belts of Superhighway as they tarnished the image of the PPP government in Sindh.
Altaf Shakoor demanded that work on Red Line BRT should be accelerated as this is one of the main arteries of the megacity, which faces heavy traffic jams on a daily basis. He said thousands of commuters face problems due to dug up University Road and their issues should be resolved on priority basis.
He said the vital project of Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) should be started as early as possible besides more buses should be inducted to the Peoples Bus Service. He said the success of modern commuting systems in Lahore and Islamabad should be replicated in Karachi. He said in fact Karachi deserves an underground rail system and a tram service also, but the Sindh government is too shy to think about such schemes.
He; however, hoped the leadership of Bilawal Bhutto would help the megacity to get rid of its chronic traffic and commuting issues. He said the megacity generates huge revenue for the federation and the province and it should be funded adequately by them in return also. He said with better infrastructure and good governance the megacity would contribute even more for the nation and the country.
