Slow pace of work on pedestrian bridges at Shahrae-Faisal

The slow pace of construction work on the pedestrian bridges at Shahrae-Faisal has jeopardise the timely completion of the schemes. The overhead pedestrian bridges are being constructed on Shahra-e-Faisal on build operate and transfer (BOT) basis by the city district government Karachi (CDGK). The three private firms will sponsor the construction of these bridges while the CDGK would execute their construction work.
It is observed that pedestrians are faced with serious problems during crossing Shahra-e-Faisal at various spots. On being contacted the CDGK official told Business Recorder here on Monday, that the chairman transport committee had visited the sites to review the pace of the construction work. He said the chairman had directed the CDGK officials to ensure the completion of all pedestrian bridges on time. Ruling out the stoppage of work on bridges, he said all the bridges would be completed on time.
Regarding the pace of construction work on pedestrian bridges undertaken by the CDGK in the wake of revoking the contract of a private firm, he said they would also be completed on time and pace of construction work on them was satisfactory.
Earlier, the CDGK revoked the contract of a private firm after it failed to construct its undertaken projects within the stipulated time, however, later the CDGK decided to construct them from its own resources.
The overhead pedestrian bridges will be built at Allah Din Park, Ancholi FB Area, Muhammadi School on National Highway, Karimabad Flat Shahra-e-Pakistan, Al-Asif Square Superhighway, Nawab Siddiq Ali Khan Road, Wazir Mension, Lyari Railway Station, Guru Mandir, and M. A. Jinnah Road near Capri Cinema, besides at the FTC, Shahra-e-Faisal, said the CDGK official.
He said the construction of those bridges were aimed at facilitating the pedestrian and minimising the road accidents as most of the time pedestrians fall victims on Shahrae-Faisal. He said after an exhaustive survey done by the CDGK experts, they been able to identify the spots where most road accidents occurred for construction of pedestrian bridges.
Officials said that the construction of pedestrian bridges has become necessary more because of the rapid growth in traffic with the each passing day, which is a big cause of traffic accidents in recent years.
The city government, officials said, they have chalked out a plan for various other traffic management projects to streamline the traffic system of the city and more facilities for pedestrians.