Shahrah-e-Faisal

Shahrah-e-Faisal, founded as Drigh Road, is a boulevard in Karachi that runs 18 km (11 mi), from the Bhutto Underpass near Hotel Metropole in central Karachi, to Star Gate near Jinnah International Airport, where it becomes N-5.[1][2] The road is one of Karachi's busiest, and is used by approximately 250,000 cars daily.[3]

Shahrah-e-Faisal
شاہراہ فیصل
Drigh Road
Shahrah-e-Faisal
Former name(s)Drigh Road
Length18 km (11 mi)
LocationKarachi, Pakistan
East endHotel Metropole
West endStargate

History

It is not clear when the road was built, however the first Air India flight took off on 15 October 1924, from Karachi's Drigh Road Aerodrome, and the record mentions the road.[4] RAF Drigh Road was a Royal Air Force base, where T.E. Lawrence, who later be famously known as "Lawrence of Arabia," was stationed between 1927 and 1928.[5]

In the 1970s, Shahrah-e-Faisal was part of the National Highway and thus belonged to the Government of Sindh. In 1977 under the dictatorship of General Zia-ul-Haq, Drigh Road was officially renamed Shahrah-e-Faisal after King Faisal of Saudi Arabia.[6] The city of Lyallpur was also renamed Faisalabad in his honor that year.[7] Only the road itself was renamed, and the Drigh Road name continues to be used in other contexts, such as Drigh Road railway station, Drigh Road Flyover, and Drigh Colony. The old name continues to be used informally.[8][9]

In the 1980s, the Government of Sindh transferred the road to the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation. An estimated 250,000 vehicles now use the road daily.[10]

In 1987 Shahrah-e-Faisal had around 30 billboards. By 2014 their number had grown to 140, from Hotel Metropole to Gora Qabristan, earning the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation Rs. 250 million per year. In 2018 the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered these billboards removed because, over time, several had collapsed in strong winds, killing and injuring a number of people.[11] In 2016 the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation decided to demolish the Drigh Road flyover, which needed multiple repairs since it was built in 1996. This flyover on Shahrah-e-Faisal takes traffic from the airport towards Gulshan-e-Iqbal.[12][13]

Upgrades
  • 2012 – Solar-powered streetlights installed by Karachi Metropolitan Corporation.[14]
  • 2014 – The majority of traffic signals have been removed – only two remain. The conversion into a signal-free road began in 2010.[15]
  • 2016 – A new traffic management plan was made.[16]
  • 2016 – Rickshaws were banned for causing accidents and traffic problems.[17]
  • 2016 – As part of the Karachi Mega Infrastructure Development Projects, sideways, green patches, and footpaths were built.[18]
  • 2016 – Karachi Metropolitan Corporation spent Rs 70 million on the replacement of old bulbs with energy-saving mercury bulbs on roads in Karachi, starting with Shahrah-e-Faisal.[19]
  • 2017 – Thousands of trees and hundreds of electric poles were uprooted by the Local Government Development Project Directorate in order for the road to be widened by 12–15 m (40–50 ft) on both sides. The area from Star Gate to the Finance and Trade Center was re-paved by the government of Sindh in Phase I of the Karachi Development Project. A complete overhaul of the Drigh Road Flyover was started after the completion of the Aan underpass.[20]
  • 2018 – The area from the Finance and Trade Center to Metropole was re-paved.
  • 2019 - Separate lane for motorbikes was made on Sharah-e-Faisal.[21][22][23][24][25]

Traffic

Shahrah-e-Faisal is one of Karachi's busiest roads, and is the site of frequent traffic jams.[26] The Road Traffic Injury and Prevention Center of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre showed that at least one person dies, and an average of 83 people are wounded, every day on Karachi roads. Shahrah-e-Faisal is considered to be the deadliest road.[27]

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References
  1. The Express Tribune 10 September 2016
  2. Samaa TV 14 October 2016
  3. "What is the havoc on Pakistani roads all about? | Pakistan Today". www.pakistantoday.com.pk. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  4. Mid-day 15 October 2015
  5. Mack, John E. (1998). A Prince of Our Disorder: The Life of T. E. Lawrence. Harvard University Press. p. 362. ISBN 978-0-674-70494-7.
  6. Pakistan Affairs. Information Division, Embassy of Pakistan. 1977.
  7. Shahid Javed Burki (2015). Historical Dictionary of Pakistan. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 196. ISBN 978-1-4422-4148-0.
  8. "Heavy rainfall wreaks havoc in Karachi". www.geo.tv. Retrieved 14 August 2020. Water started stagnating at Ziauddin Ahmed Road, Teen Talwar, Do Talwar, Bath Island, Hotel Metropole, Nursery, Karsaz, Baloch Colony, Drigh Road, and President House Road. Situation in the Airport police station's surroundings worsened due to at least 1.5-foot deep rain water on the roads, including Drigh Road, with traffic coming to a halt. Officials under the leadership of superintendent of traffic police (SP) have employed large pumps to drain the stagnating water.
  9. "Flooding and power outages persist as monsoon spell continues on second day". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 14 August 2020. A similar situation was observed on Karsaz, where the Karsaz flyover was closed for the traffic, due to which the volume of traffic towards Drigh Road increased.
  10. The Express Tribune 8 March 2014
  11. Khan, Iftikhar A. (18 October 2018). "SC orders removal of hoardings from public land across country". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  12. The Express Tribune 5 June 2016
  13. The Express Tribune 1 May 2012
  14. Pakistan Today 10 January 2012
  15. The News 7 September 2014
  16. Geo TV 10 September 2016
  17. Dunya News 16 September 2016
  18. Daily Times 07 December 2016
  19. Daily Times 26 December 2016
  20. Daily Times 27 February 2017
  21. Reporter, The Newspaper's Staff (17 October 2018). "Separate track along Sharea Faisal for bikers being made". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  22. Reporter, Our Staff (17 October 2018). "Separate track for bikes on Shahrah-e-Faisal". nation.com.pk. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  23. "Karachi's Sharae Faisal is getting a dedicated bike lane from Metropole to Malir Halt – Samaa Digital". Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  24. "Separate track for bikes on Shahrah-e-Faisal | Dunya News". video.dunyanews.tv. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  25. "Bike lane at Shahra-e-Faisal: civilians fail to follow the law". Home - ARY NEWS. 1 December 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  26. "No letup in Karachi traffic jams, despite more bridges, signal-free roads | Pakistan Today". www.pakistantoday.com.pk. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  27. "Karachi's roads serve up recipe for traffic disasters". The Express Tribune. 8 February 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2020. According to their research, streets in Karachi have become extremely dangerous for motorcyclists, pedestrians and for passengers of public buses. “Shahrah-e-Faisal has proved to be the most fatal road, followed by the Korangi industrial Area street, Shahrah-e-Orangi and Mauripur Road,” commented the head of RTIR & PC Dr Juma Khan.
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