THE people of Rawalpindi have a long-standing problem. Anyone wanting to travel by M2 to Lahore, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Sheikhupura etc has to first travel westwards toward the Toll Plaza.

The journey takes anything from half an hour up to 90 minutes for people living in Chaklala, Rawalpindi cantonment, DHA, Bahria Town, Sawan Camp Area and other colonies to access the motorway. The only alternative is to travel on Dheri Hassanabad - Chakri Road which is very congested and in bad condition. Besides it does not provide easy access to the people of Chaklala and eastern Rawalpindi.

A good alternative would be to develop the Rawat to Dheri/Mohra Road which is parallel to the above-mentioned road. An interchange at Dheri will open up a new route for buses/vans travelling from Sawan Camp Bus Stand to the cities mentioned above besides providing a shorter route to M2.

This route will also facilitate the opening of small businesses and generate job opportunities in Rawat – Mohra/Dheri area. The only objection that could be raised is that it is close to the Chakri Interchange. Lahore has three such interchanges within a short distance of each other i.e, Faizpur, Kot Abdul Malik and entry/exit point for Kala Shah Kaku.

I suggest a three-stage approach. They are as follows:

1) Opening up of entry/exit points at Dheri where an underpass already exists.

2) Construction of a proper interchange.

3) Widening and straightening of the Rawat-Dheri Road, which should be a dual-carriage road owing to the heavy container traffic generated because of industrial units being located here.

This project will shorten the distance to the motorway.

Brig (r) Yasub Ali Dogar
Lahore

Published in Dawn, July 7th, 2015

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