MALIR EXPRESSWAY

Malir expressway is a so-called development project made to solve transport issues in the city. The project aims to facilitate traveling and get rid of traffic congestion on the Superhighway, will ease traffic on Shahra-e-Faisal, provide an alternative route to the airport, connect Keamari to the Superhighway, and reduce traffic on the link road in Malir. The Malir Expressway project’ estimated cost is nearly Rs 28 billion and executed under a public-private partnership model. It is to be 38.5 kilometers long with 30.9 meters in width, having six interchanges and six lanes, as well as five bridges and five, weighbridges. But is it development for everyone?

Nothing is being gained by providing a “quasi-legal” cover to an ill-advised development project. In fact, the decision is not fair to people living near the expressway site as well as the environment.

Some impacts of malir expressway:

·       The construction is being done on the river bed and the flood plains of the Malir River passing through Shah Faisal Town. It will be flooded every year during Monsoon Season.

·   It will be destroying green fields and agricultural land of various rural areas (referred to as Goths). Thousands of fully grown trees will be cut. The ecological damage, as a result, will be devastating. 

·        Many people will get displaced and forced to relocate to other areas because their houses will be demolished to make way for the Expressway.

·   Many people will get unemployed due to the removal of Green fields which is their only livelihood source.

·        Many local birds, mammals, and fish species will become endangered due to changes in their natural habitat.

·        The construction of the 39KM expressway will add to the concretization of the city. Additional traffic would cause additional greenhouse gas emissions and noise pollution hence increasing global warming and yearly heatwaves

·        Twenty-one goths or villages that fall along the route of the Malir Expressway will be displaced in just one of a series of environmental disasters that the high-speed road will bring.

Malir expressway benefits the elite or upper middle class as it provides a direct route to the housing schemes located on the superhighway. There shouldn’t be any doubt that the execution of the project has begun without considering the environment and biodiversity protection. Besides, the element of greed cannot be ruled out. As many participants raised concerns during the public hearing about whether the project was actually for the people of Karachi or just to support the real estate developers, who had constructed societies, including Bahria Town Karachi and DHA City, on the outskirts of the city.

If it is, then the timing to execute the project is too early, because so far only 25000 inhabitants are living in Bahria Town Karachi, according to their official data. Many have left the scheme or intend to leave because of higher maintenance and utility charges. While living hasn’t started in DHA City so far, it would still take years to get populated. But yes with this corridor the real estate prices of the adjacent land and other small housing societies would increase only to benefit land speculators.

However, the project has been launched without the input of local stakeholders, leading to questions raised by local residents and activists regarding the fallout of the controversial project. In fact, the Sindh government plans to acquire more land for the construction of the highway, which is sure to adversely affect both residential areas and fertile agricultural land in Malir. Reportedly, around 24 pre-partition villages, including fishing villages dating back to 1914, and over 2,300 acres of farmland could be destroyed during construction. This agricultural strip is said to be one of the few surviving green belts in Karachi, supplying most of the city’s fruit and vegetables. Meanwhile, environmental activists claim that between 1,800 and 1,900 plants and trees, 176 species of birds, and 73 butterfly species among other wildlife, would also be affected by the building of the expressway. The provincial authorities would be well advised not to disregard the concerns of citizens lest they want the project to meet the fate of the Ravi Riverfront initiative in Lahore that was struck down by the courts. Instead, the Sindh authorities should ask themselves whether earlier projects — particularly the Lyari Expressway which uprooted nearly 77,000 families, most of whom still await the promised compensation — were able to serve the intended purpose.