Karachi:Superhighway of the past and M-9 Motorway of present has become a nightmare for pedestrians who want to cross the fast road as there is not a single pedestrian bridge between Al-Asif Square to Gadap police station. The lone pedestrian bridge on this long section is in front of the Al-Asif Square and later this motorway is a killer road for pedestrians who want to cross it.
Both sides of the M-9 between Al-Asif Square houses residential colonies, apartment buildings, Goths, markets and workshops and hundreds of thousands of people have to cross this high-speed road daily, risking their lives and limbs and the National Highway Authority and other related government departments have not erected any pedestrian bridge over this very busy section. Several people are reported dead and injured every month by hit-and-run vehicles while crossing the motorway. Women and children are at the higher risk while crossing this road in a dangerous manner, due to lack of any pedestrians’ bridge.
The NHA has yet to fully complete the track and service roads between Al-Asif Square to Gadap police station and as a result fast moving coaches and slow moving motorcycles, donkey carts, Chingchis and bicycles use the same motorway on its most sections in this busy area. The worst affected are passengers who want to reach the intra-city bus station near Suhrab Goth as there is not any pedestrian bridge also there to save them from fasting moving traffic while they cross the motorway. Similarly, people are also seen crossing the LEW in a very risky manner due to absence of any barriers. The NHA here also is least concerned to protect human lives.
The opening of the Lyari Expressway on the M-9 is ridiculously dangerous due to the criminal negligence of the NHA and motorway police. Every sort of roadside encroachments from pushcarts to vending stalls and from illegal bus stands to kiosks are found here. This section of theM-9 Motorway is most dirty and littered with garbage. However, it is undecided that who is responsible for keeping it tidy: NHA or city government. Presently, both of them are equally negligent.
During night hours driving on the M-9 here is extremely dangerous, as due to low height of the wall separating down and up tracks of the motorway, sharp glow of the headlights of motors almost blind the motorists coming from opposite direction. The negligent bureaucracy of the NHA has failed to erect some protecting shields to save the motorists from the headlights of opposite traffic.
Commuters, motorists and pedestrians complain that the NHA is earning billions of rupees from the toll tax of both M-9 and LEW, but it is not ready to ensure that both these fast traffic highways are safe for their users. They request the Sindh governor Imran Ismail, State Minister for communications Murad Saeed, federal secretary minister of communications Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui, and Jawwad Rafique Malik chairman NHA to pay visits to both M-9 and LEW and ensure that the slogan of the NHA –Committed to Excellence- is saved from being a laughing stock of the Karachiites.
The M-9 is a 136-km long 6-lane near-completion motorway connecting the cities of Hyderabad and Karachi and it is an important part of Pakistan’s Motorways Network.
Groundbreaking ceremony of M-9 Motorway was held on 11th March 2015 with planned completion date of August 2017, which has already slipped due to negligence of the NHA.
The motorway is being constructed by the Frontier Works Organization (FWO) and Think Transportation is appointed as the Traffic Consultant for this Motorway. Construction began in September 2015 and is expected to be completed in 2018. The motorway is 136 km long with 3 lanes on either side.