The Sindh Industrial and Trading Estates (SITE) Limited – a government body responsible for resolving issues of industrial areas – is yet to start construction work on the Afza Altaf Flyover at Habib Bank Chowrangi, despite being provided with all the required funds.
The flyover was initially named the Habib Bank Flyover but at the inauguration ceremony for construction on April 20, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad had renamed it after Afza Altaf – the daughter of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain.
Requesting anonymity, officials privy to the matter told Pakistan Today that the SITE management has hoodwinked Sindh Industries and Commerce Minister over the construction of the Afza Altaf Flyover, as the construction work of the four-lane flyover costing Rs 510 million was supposed to be completed within the period of three months from its inauguration date.
“The SITE officials had time and again assured the Sindh governor, Commerce and Industries Minister Rauf Siddiqui and Adviser to Chief Minister on Investment Zubair Motiwala that the flyover would be made operational by the end of July 2011.”
The Sindh Finance Department had even released all funds to the SITE but its former managing director Abdul Rasheed Solangi and deputy managing director Shamsuddin Sehto did not start the project.
Ironically, no progress had been made on the flyover since the MQM quit the coalition government in June; but soon after the party rejoined the federal and provincial governments in October and Siddiqui took over the charge of his office as the commerce minister, the first briefing he sought was from the SITE officials over delays in the construction of Afza Altaf Flyover.
“The officials concerned again informed the minister that the flyover would be completed within a short period of three months,” the sources said.
The authorities have also announced a traffic diversion plan during the flyover’s construction that will go on round-the-clock, while the SITE engineering section has intimated Karachi Electric Supply Company, Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited, Sui Southern Gas Company, Karachi Water and Sewerage Board and other utility providers for safety measures during the construction work, the sources said, quoting the SITE officials.
The double-road flyover is over 2,000 feet long and 48 feet wide.
