ISLAMABAD: While ordinary residents travelling between Faizabad and Shamsabad are forced to face lots of inconvenience due to the construction work on Murree Road, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan enjoys a comfortable drive to Islamabad from his home at Faizabad via a special crossing.

“He is a self-proclaimed champion of eliminating the ‘VIP culture’,” said Mohammad Akhtar, who works at a Shamsabad petrol station. “But he isn’t willing to experience the suffering of the ordinary people.”

Since the construction of the elevated road for the metro bus began, most of Murree Road has been reduced to potholes and mud - a situation that has been aggravated by the recent rains.

“There are 4-6 inches of mud at various parts of 6th Road to past Shamsabad - the whole car gets dirty, what will happen to motorcyclists?” asked Qazi Mohammad, a taxi driver who lives in the area. “But the road is always clean as we near Faizabad,” he added.

A possible reason for the clean road past the Survey of Pakistan office is better management by contractors and authorities since the road faces the interior minister’s residence.

A path has also been established specifically to facilitate the minister right in front of his home so that vehicles leaving the residence won’t have to turn left to make a ‘U-turn’ to go towards the capital.

Not only has the centre median been cut to create the path, but also a barrier has been installed on the road divider that only allows privileged vehicles through.

“The worst part is to see the pathetic condition of the ‘U-turn’. It is like driving through potholes,” said Faizabad shopkeeper Mohammad Umar.

What is especially peculiar is that none of the relevant authorities have taken responsibility for creating the path, cutting through the road divider or erecting the barrier.

Traffic police officials said only the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) is allowed to cut through the ‘centre median’ and create a turn while the traffic police only manage the flow of vehicles.

However, a senior RDA official said road management was the domain of the traffic police.

An official from the Ministry of Interior said the path had been created by the Punjab police for security reasons.

However, this was denied by the police. A police official, who asked not to be named, said: “There was no police involvement in the barrier. Possibly the minister’s guards or employees control the barrier.”

Ironically, Chaudhry Nisar has been especially vocal against ‘VIP culture’ in the capital. In fact, a large chunk of his media briefing on June 22, 2013, was on implementing discipline and order amongst the privileged class, including eliminating or reducing the disturbance to the general traffic because of the VIP routes.

Published in Dawn, May 18th, 2014