KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah approved a plan to repair Karachi’s damaged roads and announced a special package of Rs25 billion for the city. The decision came after recent heavy rains caused severe damage to the road network.
According to officials, the grant for repairing the city’s worn-out roads will soon be presented to the provincial cabinet for formal approval.
During a meeting at the CM House, Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab briefed the chief minister on the extent of the damage and shared the plan for rehabilitation.
He said that 315 internal streets in the city are badly damaged and need urgent repair. He also said that 60 major roads are planned for reconstruction, with an overall cost of around Rs25 billion.
The chief minister assured the mayor that funds would not be an issue. “Work must be done on a war footing,” CM Shah said, adding that the roads are in very poor condition and ongoing mega projects are adding to traffic problems. He directed officials to speed up all development work to reduce public hardship, warning that delays would not be accepted.
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He also instructed that along with road reconstruction, the drainage system on all 60 major roads must be built at the same time to prevent future damage. He noted that the Safe City project has already helped reduce traffic accidents.
CM Shah said that the fast progress on infrastructure shows the Sindh government’s commitment to improving the city’s look and the quality of life for millions of residents by the end of the current development cycle.
Updates on Mega Projects
Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Shah also briefed the chief minister on major ongoing projects, including the Korangi Causeway Bridge and the Shahrah-i-Bhutto Expressway. He said both projects are close to completion and parts of them will be opened to traffic within the next two months.
The new elevated Korangi Causeway Bridge, replacing the old causeway that often went underwater during heavy rains, is more than 80 percent complete and is expected to be fully ready by December 2025 or early January 2026. The chief minister said the bridge will provide a permanent, rain-proof route between Korangi and the rest of Karachi.
Regarding the Shahrah-i-Bhutto project, the CM was informed that it is about 82 percent complete as of mid-2025, with overall progress at around 78 percent.
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Segment I, from Shaheed-i-Millat Expressway at Qayyumabad to Quaidabad, is already functional. The Shah Faisal Interchange has also been opened for people traveling towards Jinnah Terminal and Sharea Faisal.
Segment II, linking to the M-9 Motorway, is around 65 percent complete. A key four-kilometre elevated section over the Malir riverbed, built to protect nearby villages, is around 48 to 50 percent complete.
This 22km road, meant to support cargo movement between Port Qasim and the M-9 Motorway, is expected to be fully open by the end of 2025. The project has picked up speed after the chief minister’s recent visit.
Mayor Wahab also informed the CM that construction on the BRT Red Line has restarted after a delay, but its completion date has now been extended to the end of 2026.
