kARACHI NEWS

Kamal appeals for release of withheld funds Monday, July 21, 2008 By our correspondent Karachi Karachi Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal has appealed to the provincial and federal governments to release the withheld funds for the ongoing development projects of city government. He said that the journey of development should not suffer due to the non-availability of funds, as the city happens to be the backbone of national economy. Talking to media after the opening of the second level of Nagan Chowrangi flyover late Saturday night, the city Nazim said that this was the most important project of the second signal-free corridor, involving a cost of Rs0.650 million. One level of the Nagan Chowrangi flyover has already been opened for traffic and the second level will now be opened up between Sohrab Goth and Surjani. He said that the flyover’s loop towards Anda Morr will be completed by August 14. The Nazim said that the city government was presently facing a shortfall of nearly Rs 3 billion. He, however, added that this deficit would be overcome by curtailing non-development expenditures like petrol, diesel and other perks. He said that the Nagan Chowrangi and Gulshan Chowrangi flyover projects were funded by federal government and added that the city government was carrying out the works under bridge-financing to avoid any delay in their completion. “Despite having limited resources, we have continued the work on the projects funded by provincial and federal governments under bridge-financing. Had we not carried on these projects, the cost of material would have increased many times, causing great loss to the national exchequer,” he added. Congratulating the citizens on the occasion, Kamal expressed satisfaction over the fact that the traffic flow was not hampered during the construction of the two levels of the Nagan Chowrangi flyover, adding that the opening of the second level would provide more ease in carrying out the remaining work beneath and around the flyover. “The construction of arteries beneath the flyover and the storm water drains will also be completed at the earliest and the whole area would be made beautiful,” he said. The Nazim told the media that a big drain (Nullah) was under construction at this site which would help drain out water during rains. With the construction of important flyovers, the Signal Free Corridor-II is nearing completion and the other works on this corridor will also be completed by August 14, he declared.