August 22, 2007	Wednesday	Sha’aban 8, 1428

RAWALPINDI, Aug 21: City roads are in a bad shape despite availability of ample funds allocated for their year round maintenance.

Neglect on the part of the agency responsible is obvious from the fact half of the allocated amount from last year remains unutilised while the sight of the roads’ persisting disrepair leaves little to imagination where the utilised half of the funds went.

No questions are being asked. On the other hand the city government seems to be in a generous mood. It has increased the allocation for roads from Rs100 million to Rs150 million over and above last year’s unutilised balance of Rs50 million.

The Works and Services (W&S) Department whose responsibility it is to maintain all city roads in good condition round the year has no overseer to check its performance.

The city fathers and officials of local government who daily traverse these very roads cannot fail to notice the pits, cracks and potholes, ditches and shallows in which rain water stands for days on end causing much discomfort to pedestrians and motorists alike but it appears the wastage or pilferage of public funds is the last of their worries.

The allocation made for roads in the fiscal budget 2007-2008 at Rs150 million is a record sum as well as the raise of 50 per cent which is unusual when the balance from last year and the deteriorating condition of the roads demanded curtailed allocation and an explanation.

When complaints are made and accountability is demanded, the rainy season is presented as an excuse for poor maintenance, not the substandard work by contractors whose workers can be seen casually filling pits with bitumen-soaked gravel that traffic and the first shower take no time in washing away.

The practice though keeps everyone in business.

Another example of public funds’ callous wastage is the way building materials are left in heaps on the roadside for months before the labour is engaged and machinery brought to start the work.

In a fund-strapped economy where development of civic amenities gets a very small share from the national kitty wastage of this kind is criminal and should not be allowed by the responsible agencies.

In this case the executive district officer (EDO) of the Works and Services (W&S) Department who gets the funds for keeping the roads in good repair should ensure efficient use of public funds which cannot be done without proper and constant monitoring of the works in progress.

An increased allocation must mean better roads. If that does not happen the responsible head must be taken to task.

Among major city roads that are in a very poor state of maintenance and need urgent attention are the Kamran Road, Asghar Mall Road, Tipu Road, Murree Road, Dhoke Kashmirian, Khayaban and Kashmir Road.

It does not mean the other roads of the city are in a perfect condition. Yet the state of streets and lanes in particular where the poor of the city live is truly pathetic. But they being a dispensable lot they may not be a part of the additional budget.

City District Nazim Raja Javed Ikhlas acknowledges that the Works and Services Department needs to monitor the repair and construction work it is doing.

He said he would also form a committee for monitoring the work and vowed that no compromise would be made on quality of work. A detailed survey of the broken roads will also be undertaken.