President General Pervez Musharraf will inaugurate the first underpass project in the province at Schon Circle, Karachi on October 1. This was stated by the Minister for Ports and Shipping Babar Ghauri here on Sunday while visiting various development project sites initiated by the Karachi Port Trust under Tameer Karachi Package to review the progress.
The minister directed the KPT and the consultant of Schon Circle Underpass (SCU) to ensure safety including life and health of labours and engineers, working on the project. He inspected the Schon Circle Underpass, Mai Kolachi Road, M.T. Khan Road and M. A. Jinnah Road projects to review the progress made.
Karachi Port Trust Chairman Vice Admiral Ahmad Hayat (Retd) accompanied the minister during the visits.
The minister was informed by the consultant of SCU that about 85 percent work of the project has been completed and it will be opened for traffic in October this year. While the road construction work stretching along 4.5-km was in full swing.
It was further informed that the underpass would be completed with a total cost of Rs 180 million.
Ghauri was apprised of the latest details of the project, which being constructed in conformity with the international standards to entail corridor for effective services and with proper lighting and storm-water drainage system.
During the visit to under construction KPT Flyover, the consultant briefed that so far 36 percent work on the project has been completed, and the project costing Rs594 million will be completed by November 30, 2006.
Later, Ghauri visited Submarine Chowk to review the progress of the rehabilitation work of Mai Kolachi Road terminating at NORE-I.
The project consultant told the minister that 47 percent work of the project has been done and it will be completed by June 25, 2006 at a cost of Rs 699 million.
MT Khan Road, starting from Jinnah Bridge and ending at PIDC Bridge, will be completed by April 2006, the minister was told.
The visiting delegation was also informed about the 27 percent work so far has been done on the rehabilitation of M. A. Jinnah Road (from Jinnah Bridge to Keamari).
The minister was told by the concerned consultant that completion is expected by March 2006.
The representatives of different consultant companies apprised the minister of the problems being faced by them. Babar Ghauri assured them to redress their grievances.