In the sixties, other new quarters were set up, some of these are Al-Mu'almin quarter, built in 1960 and lies about 4 kilometres to the west of the city centre.
- AI-Baladiya quarter, built in 1961 and lies in the area between the road leading to the al-Hussain quarter and the old hospital road.
- AI-Abbas quarter, built in 1964 and lies about 3 kilometres to the city centre and on the Karbala- Baghdad new road.
In the seventies and as result of the increase in population of the city of Karbala and the migration of the people living in the surrounding areas of Karbala and nearby towns and villages, the city started to expand horizontally outside its old boundaries. Thus, further new quarters were built in the southwestern side. These new quarters are:
- AI-Hur, al-Amil, al-Naqeeb and al-Islah al-Zirai quarters all built in 1970.
- Ramadhan, al-Usra, al-Mulhaq, al-Sihha and al-Bunook quarters, aH built in 1975.
- AI-Muwaýd-hafin quarter, built in 1976.
- Saif Saad quarter, built in 1977.
- Al-Umba and al-Mcm, ra quarters, built in 1978.
In 1977, work started on a project to build the 40 meter wide Pedestrian street linking the holy shrine of Imam Hussain (A. S.) and that of his brother al-Abbas (A. S.) which was completed in 1980. This project contributed to the distortion of the beautiful features of the city centre to a large extent. This shows the indifference and the apathy of the government of Iraq towards preserving the cultural origins of the Islamic environment by which the holy city of Karbala is distinguished because of its architectural fabric. Many of the city's prominent Islamic buildings were destroyed such as the well-known souk al-Hussain (only partly), al-Safi Mosque, Badkuba religious school, Hassan Khan school, many of the beautiful traditional houses and many other buildings.
Buildings were constructed on both sides of this street in a chaotic manner and without proper planning or prior study and also without appreciation of the Islamic architectural features of this city.
Source:
- Holy Shrines of Karbala: By Raouf Mohamed Ali Al-Ansari
[p 106-107].
