2nd phase of Malir Expressway to be opened for traffic next month: Ghani

Sindh Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani said the second phase of the under-construction Shahrah-e-Bhutto Expressway (Malir Expressway) from Karachi Airport to Quaidabad will be opened for vehicular traffic next month.

He announced this on Tuesday while briefing media persons while inspecting phase two of the expressway. Ghani said a fully completed expressway having a length of 36 kilometres, whose construction cost is Rs54 billion, would be opened for traffic by December this year.

He informed journalists that the second phase of the expressway was 15 kilometres long, including a four-kilometre-long overhead bridge. He said the largest girders in the construction history of Karachi were being used to build this overhead bridge.

The local government minister recalled that earlier it had been announced that the second phase of the expressway would be completed by March this year. The completion of phase had been delayed due to slowed construction during Ramazan-ul-Mubarak and upcoming Eidul Fitr holidays. He assured media persons that the entire expressway would be completed by December 2025. He said the completion of the second phase would facilitate traffic going to the Malir and Thatta areas.

Answering a question, he said the stage hadn't come for the Pakistan Peoples Party ruling in Sindh to take to the streets to protest against the construction of new canals on the Indus River. He said the PPP had opposed the plan to construct new canals at every relevant forum. He said the PPP had a clear-cut stance against the project.

Ghani said the PPP wouldn't allow the construction of new canals as it wouldn't just create a water shortage in Sindh but would also cause irrigation problems for the existing farmlands in Punjab. He said there was no valid cause available to construct the new canals. He said the PPP would continue to use every legal and constitutional forum to oppose the plan to build new canals. He, however, said the PPP would avoid confrontation on this issue with the centre.

The minister said the federal government had also sensed the gravity of the situation regarding the construction of new canals as the federal ministers had announced holding talks with the PPP on this issue. He said the relevant authorities shouldn't implement the plan to build canals due to a lack of consensus on this issue. He recalled that earlier consensus hadn't been developed on the controversial Kalabagh Dam project.