Early completion of Malir bridge repair demanded
KARACHI: Common people along with industrialists have expressed concern over severe traffic jams due lingering repair work at Malir Bridge which are source of great concern and anxiety to the trade...
April 16, 2013
Usman Ahmed President, Bin Qasim Association of Trade & Industry (BQATI), in a statement said people and workers are facing a lot of issues on daily basis especially during morning & evening rush hours due to travelling to Port Qasim via National Highway and back to city, facing traffic congestion and severe traffic jams which have become routine.
He said that the National highway from Malir Bridge to Port Qasim roundabout is under great pressure of traffic as the transport heading toward city and upcountry, Port Qasim, Port Industrial Zone, Steel Mill, Steel Town, Gulshan-e-Hadeed and other industries situated in Bin Qasim Zone used to pass through this road, which in fact has been turned into a narrow street.
Looting and snatching incident at key point during traffic gridlock has created panic, especially among foreign engineers and technical staff working in Bin Qasim Industrial Zone. These events have reemphasized the need to implement strict and additional security measures to minimize the risk of criminal activities in the area and improve traffic situation during sensitive hours.
Mian Muhammed Ahmed, Patron In-chief & Founder President of Bin Qasim Association of Trade & Industry also showed his concern and briefed that at the time when industrial production needs to be boosted upto help the economy, incidents like these will act as serious deterrent to local and foreign investors.
BQATI appealed to the concerned authority to instruct the concerned department to expedite the repairing work of joints and heavy traffic should be restricted during peak hours, or repairing work could be done during night hours.
The News adds: The commuters also expressed their anger against the authorities concerned over massive traffic jam in the rush hours on the Malir-Quaidabad bridge.
Talking to The News, Nauman Rao said he faces severe problems while passing through the said bridge. He said besides traffic mess, there is loot and plunder by the armed bandits on the route.
Another bike rider, Saqib, said traffic jam has become a routine matter on the bridge due to repair work. He spends nearly two hours daily on the bridge in traffic jam.
He said the authorities concerned had not made the alternate arrangements before starting the work. He demanded the government to expedite the construction work and complete it as soon as possible.
‘I travel in the rush hours and face massive traffic jam at the bridge’, said Arshad Ahmed, another commuter. He said 2 to 3 hours delay while commuting to work and getting stuck over the bridge has become a routine matter.
He said the buses and other public transporters also mint money by not completing their route.
Arshad demanded of the authorities to take notice of this serious issue and resolve it at the earliest. (PPI/The News)
