KARACHI (April 20): Construction work on the Malir Expressway is in full swing and so far, 15-kilometre earth work from the Jam Sadiq Bridge to Quaidabad has been completed but there are some land issues which need to be resolved.

This was disclosed in a meeting held here at the CM House under the chairmanship of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Wednesday. The meeting was attended by Local Government Minister Nasir Shah, Administrator Karachi Murtaza Wahab, Chief Secretary Sohail Rajput, Principal Secretary to CM Fayaz Jatoi, Secretary Local Government Najam Shah, PD Malir Expressway Niaz Soomro, Additional Secretary Finance Asad Zamin and others.

The Sindh CM had envisaged a plan to construct an expressway on the Malir River to facilitate thousands of commuters and heavy traffic of Karachi Port, Korangi Industrial Area, Landhi Industrial Area, Steel Mills, Port Qasim, and other such areas towards upcountry through the National and Super highways.

The project includes the development of a 38.75 kilometre 3x3 lane expressway with controlled access along the Malir River starting from Korangi Creek Avenue (DHA) and ending at Karachi–Hyderabad Motorway (M-9) near Kathore via the existing Link Road.

The proposed expressway will provide speedy access to main housing schemes along the route, reducing the commuting time from Korangi Creek Avenue (DHA) to Superhighway (M-9) to only 25 minutes. The Expressway will have 6 interchanges.

The progress concerning construction activities including clearing and grubbing on the main alignment and construction of temporary service roads for the movement of construction equipment inside the river bed is in full swing.

The chief minister was told that there were some land issues – some parts of the land were owned by private people and some parts belonged to the air force. At this the chief minister directed the chief secretary to talk to the authorities concerned so that work on the project may continue unhindered.

Mr Shah directed Karachi's additional inspector general to set up a police picket at the site of the Malir Expressway for security of the labourers and the machinery mobilised there.

The chief minister directed the Local Government minister to keep visiting the expressway to review the work so that its portion up to Quaidabad could be completed within the next eight months.