Slow, but steady
By Shabeer Ahmed and Mahima Sultan Ali
Karachi is one the largest metropolitan cities of the world, but its deteriorating communications constantly ring home the worth of time. Though it is lovingly called mini- Pakistan by many due to its tremendous economic and political importance and the humongous diverse population it inhabits; sadly, for the last ten years, this heart of Pakistan has suffered immensely.
Where Punjab experienced unprecedented spurts of development in the last decade, infrastructure conditions crumbled faster than a stale cookie here.
Traffic jams, check!
Potholed roads, check!
Less and encroached pavements, check!
Uncountable and uncontrollable motors on roads, check!
Less means of public transport, check!
Thankfully things are looking up with the number of projects being worked over across Karachi, like the construction for Metrobuses, the under and bypasses and main roads like Sharae Faisal, Kala Board, Tariq Road etc.
But as much as Karachiites wish to rejoice in this momentary attention paid to their woes, currently the digging has compounded issues with development work on four key road links ongoing simultaneously, and minimal alternate routes arranged to cater to more than 3.5 million vehicles passing through them every day. Rush hours are nightmares which are avoided by all who can afford the luxury and the lateness but those who can’t, brave this monster of air and noise pollution every day. The sheer exasperation and tiredness daily can be withstood for long term benefits but the increased number of accidents in the last 4 months is a serious cause of concern.
The speed of the work shows that things will be a wrap before monsoon this year.
