{"id":125882,"date":"2026-05-14T18:26:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T13:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=125882"},"modified":"2026-05-14T18:26:01","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T13:26:01","slug":"karachis-shahrah-i-bhutto-to-be-fully-open-to-public-by-end-of-may-sharjeel-memon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125882\/","title":{"rendered":"Karachi’s Shahrah-i-Bhutto to be fully open to public by end of May: Sharjeel Memon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

KARACHI(National Times)- The Sindh government will fully open the Shahrah-i-Bhutto Expressway in Karachi to the public by the end of May, Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Memon said on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shahrah-i-Bhutto Expressway is a 39-kilometre high-speed corridor in Karachi that was noted<\/a> to be 88.2 per cent complete as of March. Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had earlier this year directed the local government department to ensure that the expressway was fully operational by April 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Announcing the upcoming completion of the project at a press conference in Karachi, Memon called the opening of the expressway \u201cvery good news\u201d for Karachiites, asserting that they would be saving \u201cat least an hour\u201d coming into the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe believe it will be a game changer in terms of traffic,\u201d he said, as well as a big step for people\u2019s convenience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After having started to be opened in phases, he said, Shahrah-i-Bhutto will now directly connect to the M-9 highway by the end of the month, saving travel time for those heading out of Karachi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, the minister announced that another road was being built to connect Karachi Port with Taj Haider Bridge. He said that the groundbreaking of that road would likely take place around the same time as the completion of Shahrah-i-Bhutto, \u201cgive or take one or two days\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cConnectivity will keep getting easier and from this connectivity, people will have a lot more travel convenience,\u201d he said, terming the new project a \u201cgame changer\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Sindh government of PPP has made lots of efforts with these projects to bring people as much convenience as possible,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alongside these two projects, Memon said, work was being carried out on other bridges, underpasses, roads and infrastructure by the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) and local government departments. He said that the Sindh government\u2019s top priority was to complete these projects as fast as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He addressed the challenges faced during some projects, namely the \u201chot topic\u201d of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Red Line project on University Road that has stalled for years and recently had its construction contract terminated<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On April 26, CM Murad announced that the deteriorated University Road will be reconstructed<\/u><\/a> within 90 days as the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) resumed<\/a> work on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHowever many efforts we made to complete this project with good intentions and as quickly as possible, there are challenges,\u201d Memon said. \u201cWith any big city projects, there are big challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amid the issues faced, however, he said, \u201cWe tried with good intentions that government money be spared \u2026 all the delay was us trying to see how we could save the government\u2019s funds, because that is public money.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that the government had held conferences, met with the dispute board, raised challenges to their decisions and negotiated, but \u201cthe work was not getting done\u201d, leading to the cancellation of the contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe FWO is working on it day and night,\u201d he said, highlighting that the first priority was the completion of the mixed traffic lane. \u201cOn the government\u2019s side, or institution\u2019s side, there was no ill will.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time of the contract\u2019s cancellation, Memon had told Dawn<\/em> that the contract had been terminated due to delays in the project\u2019s execution by the contractor. He had said the Asian Development Bank, which funds<\/u><\/a> the project, was unhappy with the pace of work, as were stakeholders concerned about environmental impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alongside the information about the transport projects, the senior minister recalled his visit<\/a> to China alongside President Asif Zardari last month, where one of the Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) signed<\/a> was for a desalination plant in Karachi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Memon highlighted the major issue of clean drinking water for Karachi residents, saying that the project would benefit many. He noted that while desalination plants are expensive, alternative sources are needed for drinking water as the population expands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also called attention to MoUs signed in the fields of agriculture and livestock, noting that these were the \u201conly two pathways\u201d for Pakistan\u2019s rural population when it came to earning a livelihood. He highlighted the longtime friendship between Pakistan and China, describing the visit as a \u201cgreat success\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KARACHI(National Times)- The Sindh government will fully open the Shahrah-i-Bhutto Expressway in Karachi to the public by the end of May, Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Memon said on Thursday. Shahrah-i-Bhutto Expressway is a 39-kilometre high-speed corridor in Karachi that was noted to be 88.2 per cent complete as of March. Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125883,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nKarachi's Shahrah-i-Bhutto to be fully open to public by end of May: Sharjeel Memon - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125882\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Karachi's Shahrah-i-Bhutto to be fully open to public by end of May: Sharjeel Memon - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"KARACHI(National Times)- The Sindh government will fully open the Shahrah-i-Bhutto Expressway in Karachi to the public by the end of May, Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Memon said on Thursday. Shahrah-i-Bhutto Expressway is a 39-kilometre high-speed corridor in Karachi that was noted to be 88.2 per cent complete as of March. Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125882\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-14T13:26:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-14T13:26:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-16-11.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"670\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"370\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125882\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125882\/\",\"name\":\"Karachi's Shahrah-i-Bhutto to be fully open to public by end of May: Sharjeel Memon - Nation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125882\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125882\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-16-11.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-14T13:26:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-14T13:26:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125882\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125882\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125882\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-16-11.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-16-11.png\",\"width\":670,\"height\":370},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125882\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Karachi’s Shahrah-i-Bhutto to be fully open to public by end of May: Sharjeel Memon\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\",\"name\":\"Nation\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\",\"name\":\"humza Jahangir\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"humza Jahangir\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/author\/humza\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Karachi's Shahrah-i-Bhutto to be fully open to public by end of May: Sharjeel Memon - Nation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125882\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Karachi's Shahrah-i-Bhutto to be fully open to public by end of May: Sharjeel Memon - Nation","og_description":"KARACHI(National Times)- The Sindh government will fully open the Shahrah-i-Bhutto Expressway in Karachi to the public by the end of May, Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Memon said on Thursday. Shahrah-i-Bhutto Expressway is a 39-kilometre high-speed corridor in Karachi that was noted to be 88.2 per cent complete as of March. Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah […]","og_url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125882\/","og_site_name":"Nation","article_published_time":"2026-05-14T13:26:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-14T13:26:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":670,"height":370,"url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-16-11.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"humza Jahangir","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"humza Jahangir","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125882\/","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125882\/","name":"Karachi's Shahrah-i-Bhutto to be fully open to public by end of May: Sharjeel Memon - Nation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125882\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125882\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-16-11.png","datePublished":"2026-05-14T13:26:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-14T13:26:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125882\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125882\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125882\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-16-11.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-16-11.png","width":670,"height":370},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/125882\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Karachi’s Shahrah-i-Bhutto to be fully open to public by end of May: Sharjeel Memon"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/","name":"Nation","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16","name":"humza Jahangir","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"humza Jahangir"},"url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/author\/humza\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125882"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125882\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125884,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125882\/revisions\/125884"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}