Drigh Road | |
Former name(s) | Drigh Road ڈرگ روڈ |
---|---|
Length | 18 km (11 mi) |
Location | Karachi, Pakistan |
East end | Hotel Metropole |
West end | Stargate |
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 National Highway.[1][2]
This road is one of Karachi's busiest, and is used by approximately 250,000 cars and vehicles daily.[1][3]
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 was 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 honour 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 or more above vehicles now use the road daily.[1][10]
In 1987, Shahrah-e-Faisal had around 30 hoardings (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]
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 Centre 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]