Malir Expressway

Malir Expressway is a 39 km underconstruction expressway starting from KPT Interchange, cross through Qayyumabad and conclude at the Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway near Kathore, along the Malir River.

Route Map and Construction

It was approved by Sindh Provincial Government in 202
Malir Expressway
route map was modified in 2021 in a way that ensures minimum people get displaced but at the cost of destroying the only river in the city- the historical Malir River. Construction of began in January 2022 before the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report was shared with public. In the EIA hearing held in March 2022. Over 100 objections were raised and presented to the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEP

none of the objections were addressed and the construction continued unabated. The EIA of Malir Expressway is being contested in the district courts due to following major reasons:

*The construction is being done on the river bed and the flood plains of 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. This is happening when the Federal Minister of Climate Change & Environment is Senator Sherry Rehman
*Many people will get displaced and forced to relocate to other areas because their houses were demolished to make way for the Expressway.
*Many people will get unemployed because Green fields were the only source of their livelihood.
*Many local bird, mammal and fish species will become endangered due to change in their natural habitat.
*The construction of the 39KM expressway will add to concretization of the city. Additional traffic would cause additional greenhouse gas emissions and noise pollution hence increasing global warming and yearly heatwaves

40% of Malir Expressway Route was cleared and levelled by October 2022. The Expressway is expected to open for traffic by December 2023 which appears unlikely considering the on-going court case on the Environmental Initial Assessment Report of the project and the construction delays due to poor design and climate change. It is expected that similar to the Lyari Expressway, this project will be indefinitely delayed.

Typical cross-section

It will be a four-lane carriageway, however it has also been declared to be a six-lane carriageway in the documentation of the Asian Development Bank.

Structures

The project includes three flyovers and eight underpasses, which increases the chances of high-speed accidents that expressways are prone to.

DBFOT

Design, Built, Finance, Operate & Maintain and Transfer ( Private finance initiative, DBFOT) arrangement with a concession period of 28 years

Southern alternative route

The expressway would serve as the Southern alternative route for carrying traffic of the port and industrial areas to main highways. It will not reduce traffic on the existing Shahrah-e-Faisal since the expected traffic flow will be mostly of high-income car passengers, whereas the traffic on Sharae Faisal will be redistributed on all the other public transport projects happening in the city

Interchanges

* Qayyumabad
* EBM Causeway
* Korangi – Shah Faisal Colony Bridge
* Shahrah-e-Faisal (N-5) near Quaidabad
* Between 25–30 km
* Kathore on Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway (M-9)

See also

* Malir River
* Malir Town
* Malir District
* Malir Cantonment
* M-9 motorway (Pakistan)
* M-10 motorway (Pakistan)
* List of expressways of Pakistan
*Transport in Karachi
*Port Qasim

References

{{Karachi topics

Proposed roads in Pakistan