KARACHI: The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) has begun preparing plans for a new flyover at the Nishtar Road-Garden Chowrangi intersection, estimated to cost Rs. 1 billion, Mayor Murtaza Wahab said Wednesday, extending the city administration’s 2026 road-infrastructure program to one of the busiest approach corridors into Karachi’s Old City.
Wahab announced the project while chairing a meeting of the KMC Engineering Department at the corporation’s municipal headquarters. He directed relevant departments to complete the technical and administrative requirements for the project and to speed up the tendering process, saying construction should begin as soon as possible. The announcement continues a year of sustained KMC investment in flyovers and underpasses as the city administration works through a backlog of congested intersections.
Route and Purpose
The proposed flyover will connect the Lyari Expressway with Garden Road and Nishtar Road, according to the mayor’s office. The project is intended to ease congestion at the Garden Chowrangi intersection and improve access between the expressway and the Old City’s commercial districts.
Nishtar Road runs through Karachi’s Garden East and Garden West localities and ranks among the city’s established west-to-east arterial roads, carrying traffic between Saddar, the Old City and Lasbela Chowk. The Lyari Expressway’s Garden interchange already functions as an access point for residents of Garden and Saddar Town, so the new flyover would sit at a junction that handles significant through-traffic even before any new construction begins.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Project | Flyover at Nishtar Road-Garden Chowrangi |
| Estimated cost | Rs. 1 billion |
| Connecting routes | Lyari Expressway, Garden Road, Nishtar Road |
| Announced by | Mayor Murtaza Wahab |
| Executing agency | Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) |
| Current stage | Technical and administrative planning; tendering to follow |
| Target completion | One year from contract award |
Planning Timeline and Cost
The project remains at an early planning stage. Wahab’s directive to the KMC Engineering Department centred on finishing preparatory technical and administrative work before tendering can begin, rather than setting an immediate construction start date.
KMC Municipal Commissioner Abrar Jaffer told the meeting the flyover carries a target completion period of one year. He said the final construction timeline would depend on the terms agreed with whichever contractor is awarded the project, a standard qualifier at this stage of KMC’s infrastructure projects.
The Rs. 1 billion estimate is also preliminary. On KMC’s other 2026 flyover projects, initial cost estimates have moved as work progressed: the Azeempura Flyover in Shah Faisal Colony was announced in March at Rs. 1.47 billion and was reported at completion in June at Rs. 1.562 billion. KMC has not yet detailed how the Nishtar Road-Garden Chowrangi project will be funded, though its recent flyovers, including Azeempura, have drawn financing through the Sindh Local Government Department.
Part of a Wider 2026 Flyover Push
The Nishtar Road-Garden Chowrangi announcement adds to a series of flyover and underpass projects KMC has advanced across Karachi through 2026. The Azeempura Flyover, linking Shah Faisal Colony with Shahrah-e-Bhutto and the airport corridor, was completed in roughly 90 days and opened to traffic in mid-June. The Korangi No. 5 Flyover is separately scheduled to open by August 15, and the Munawar Chowrangi Underpass in Gulistan-e-Jauhar opened to motorists in late July.
Provincial authorities have run a parallel infrastructure push: the Sindh government opened the Rs. 1.86 billion Bhains Colony Flyover in Malir earlier this year and has awarded roughly Rs. 8.5 billion in additional flyover and road projects elsewhere in the city to the Frontier Works Organization.
Not every proposed KMC flyover has proceeded on schedule. A separate project planned for the Disco Bakery intersection in Gulshan-e-Iqbal was put on hold in late July after local elected representatives asked the city administration to reconsider the plan — a reminder that announcements at the planning stage do not guarantee construction will follow without changes.
Impact for Commuters
KMC officials said the Nishtar Road-Garden Chowrangi flyover is intended to reduce pressure on existing roads used daily by thousands of commuters and traders moving between Garden, Nishtar Road, Saddar, the Old City and nearby commercial and residential areas. Wahab described the project as part of the corporation’s broader plan to improve Karachi’s traffic infrastructure and connectivity.
The intersection sits along a corridor linking Lyari Expressway traffic to some of Karachi’s older commercial zones, where narrow roads and dense development leave limited room for at-grade widening. A grade-separated crossing, of the kind KMC has built at Azeempura and elsewhere this year, would let through-traffic bypass the signalized junction instead of adding capacity to the surrounding road network itself.
What Happens Next
KMC has not announced a construction start date, a tender deadline or a contractor for the Nishtar Road-Garden Chowrangi flyover. Wahab’s directive to expedite tendering suggests the corporation intends to move the project from planning to bidding in the coming weeks, though the timeline depends on how quickly the Engineering Department clears the outstanding technical and administrative approvals.
Based on the pace of KMC’s other 2026 flyover projects, formal construction is unlikely to begin before a contractor is selected through the tender process. Further details, including the flyover’s length and final design, are expected once the project moves past the planning stage.
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