Disclaimer:   This post is not politically motivated. Only inspired by some of my observations during an aimless drive around the city.

You gotta admit. Karachi has been transformed over the past six years. I remember Karachi in 2001 when I left for my hiatus abroad. It used to be a stinking nightmare. Buses, rickshaws and cars honked with frustration in long queues of traffic jams. Pollution hung like a pall in the sky with barely any vegetation in the city. Roads were broken and potholed in all areas. Curbs and footpaths were non-existent or left in ruins. Sewerage water overflowed in a majority of the neighbourhoods. Water was in short supply and tankers used to ply everywhere. Just thinking of those frustrating times is enough to give one a headache.

Contrast that image to now. Traffic flows freely in most areas thanks to signal-free corridors. A lot of major arteries of the city have been re-carpeted… something that had not been carried out in the city for decades. Most of the roads and streets look defined now, with properly constructed curbsides and footpaths. The sewerage system of the city has been fixed in a majority of areas and you dont find overflowing gutters everywhere anymore. A lot of trees have been planted in the city and amenity plots that used to be garbage dumps have been converted into parks. The credit for this vision and for the transformation of this city from an urban disaster to a strident megapolis can largely go to one man: Mustafa Kamal.

A park in Gulshan that once used to be a wasteland

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Malir River bridge was inaugurated on 4th Feb,2009 by Governor Sindh. The 5km bridge is the longest in Pakistan. It links Korangi to Shah Faisal Colony via Malir River. Here are some pictures for the same. Well done CDGK. Around 43 houses were demolished on the site after payment of compensation to their owners. There was also a park proposed about which we don’t have any latest but if the project is still ON it would be really great.

[Credit : Urbanpk]
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Karachi’s young and energetic Mustafa Kamal, the mayor is chosen by an award winning American magazine Foreign Policy as 2nd best mayor in the world for year 2008.

From DAWN:
“An award winning American magazine Foreign Policy, has chosen Nazim Karachi, Syed Mustafa Kamal as second among the three best mayors in the world for the year 2008.

The magazine has included the names of Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit and Wang Hongju, Mayor of Chongqing as the other mayors of the moment, said a CDGK statement issued on Sunday.
The magazine said no city globalises on its own, but with shrewd investments and smart urban planning, a mayor can help turn a regional player into a global powerhouse. About Mustafa Kamal the magazine wrote that the mayor of Karachi is an unlikely poster child for innovative urban planning.
It said the 36-year-old Mustafa Kamal governs a city that’s more often in the news for religious violence than cosmopolitan ways. But the hard-charging Kamal is looking to change all that. He’s courting foreign investment, encouraging international ties, and boosting the city’s tourism.
According to the US magazine Kamal is not shy about his goals: He has said he wants to turn Karachi into the next Dubai. His Green Karachi project aims to plant thousands of trees in the city. Kamal is not letting anything stand in the way of his grand plans. He has threatened to arrest anyone who tries to cut down the new saplings, it added.
In a statement, the Nazim said that in the past there was no concept of ownership in Karachi. He said his administration carried out development works on a large scale, but added that lot of work still remains to be done.”

Source : http://www.dawn.com/2008/11/10/top11.htm

Nazim Karachi Mustafa Kamal gave a detail interview to daily Ummat. Point of interest was different issues related to city and development work and its status. Read here

The purpose of city nazim Mustafa Kamal’s on-going trip to the United States has been the subject of much discussion lately. All three major English dailies, Dawn, The News and Daily Times have carried stories on it recently.

On Monday, Daily Times reported he was getting “special treatment” from the State Department because they viewed him as a potential future leader of the country. The report in Monday’s The News was also on similar lines, it quoted CNN’s State Department Correspondent Zain Virje as saying that the mayor of Karachi was a “guest with a mission”. Daily Times also published the full transcript of the interview Kamal gave to Virje, and even though Kamal played down speculation about the purpose of his visit, telling Dawn’s Anwer Iqbal that he had come to the United States to urge American businessmen to invest in his city, speculation is still rife. (more…)