Work on North-bound section of Lyari Expressway project is being hindered by delay in handing over of right of way (ROW) to National Highway Authority (NHA) by the City District Government of Karachi. A source in NHA told APP on Thursday if ROW is cleared, the NHA can complete the project within six months.
He said as compared to southern section possession of land for the northern section has proved more problematic. He said at present ROW for 12 kilometres portion has been handed over while over four kilometres section has still not been cleared. Structures like bridges and culverts etc have been built in the cleared section and earthwork completed, he added.
The source said that after inauguration of south-bound section the people have started experiencing the benefits flowing from it, and hoped the momentum for the north-bound expressway will be generated. He said early completion of the project will not only improve the traffic conditions in Karachi, but will also contribute towards improving environmental problems.
This unique project will further add to the ambience of Karachi. Speaking about north-bound Carriageway he said, that pace of work on this section be accelerated and efforts be made to remove hurdles especially for early possession of remaining Right of Way in co-ordination with the Governor and the City government.
He elaborated that Lyari Expressway starts from Zero Point Sohrab Goth Bridge on Super Highway and ends at Maripur Road Bridge. He said that Lyari Expressway project was launched in 2002 with the aim to provide faster, congestion-free, shorter and environment-friendly inter-city connection between Mauripur Road and Super Highway.
Due to delay in the completion of the project, the cost of developing this expressway has been revised twice since it was first proposed. Originally estimated at Rs 5.1 billion, in March 2006 it is expected to cost Rs 8.227 billion once completed.
When work started on the Lyari Expressway in 2002, the NHA had expected to complete it by November 2004. However following delays caused by several reasons, the NHA now expects the project would be completed by July this year.
In 1986, the Lyari Expressway was proposed as an alternate to the Northern Bypass, but was found unfeasible since 100,000 people would have to be evicted. The floods in 1993 led to the revival of the plan for the expressway as a device for flood protection apart from its function of providing another traffic corridor but in 1996 the idea was dropped and attention was given on the Northern Bypass for port traffic.
In June 2001 the government came up with the idea of building both the Northern Bypass and the Lyari Expressway together in the budget for the bypass alone. The work was entrusted to NHA and the Frontier Works Organisation was appointed contractor for Lyari Expressway Project.