Daily Times

KARACHI: Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) has chalked out a plan to illuminate city’s 32 main roads, nine underpasses, 28 flyovers and 25 bridges with newly designed mercury energy saver bulbs.

The Chief Engineer, KMC, Shafi Chachar said that on the directives of Waseem Akhtar, Mayor Karachi, Rs 70m would be spent on the procurement of mercury bulbs and on their fitting expenditures.

In the first phase, work of installing new and replacing old bulbs will be carried out on Shahrah-e-Faisal. In the second phase, the work will be undertaken on Tariq Road, Tipu Sultan Road, Shaheed-e-Millat Road and Sharah-e-Quaideen and in the final phase, underpasses, flyovers and bridges would put on the new lights.

The plan of installing new bulbs has been designed with the view of ensuring security to the commuters during their travel in the darkness and it will take over three months to complete the task, he added.

The KMC had not carried out any such work during the last four months due to lack of funds and absence of proper administration, he mentioned.

Raza Abbas Rizvi, the Senior Director, Municipal Services Tax, KMC said that “Due to financial crunch in the KMC, it has been decided that power consumption charges of streetlights and roads would be adjusted with the KMC’s payable dues and taxes by the Karachi Electric (KE).

He said KE owed around Rs 2.50 billion to KMC on the head of octroi and other taxes, besides occupying KMC’s land for the purpose of installing 93,000 electric poles and Poll Mounting Transformers in city.

According to different survey reports submitted to Commissioner Karachi by various non-governmental organizations and members of civil society, around Rs 450 million to Rs 500 million are being spent annually on lighting up the city’s main roads, streets, lanes, flyovers and bridges.

According to the report, some of the major bridges and highways that wear darkness due to non-availability of proper lighting are Malir Bridge, Link National Highway to Super Highway Bridge, I C Bridge, Tower Bridge, Mari Pur Bridge, Sher Shah Bridge, Love Line Bridge, Lasbela Bridge, Hati Bridge,Essa Nagri, Gulshan Bridge, Old Sabzi Mandi, Yaseenabad Bridge, Imtaiz SuperMart Gulshan Bridge and others.

Similarly, underpasses without lights include Nazimabad, Liaqutabad, Garibabad, Shorab Goth, Sharah Quaideen, Clifton, University Road and others.

Flyovers without lights include Hino Chock KPT, Jam Sadiq, Quaidabad, Dawood Chowrangi, Hasan Square, Stadium Road, Karsaz and the like.