KARACHI, Oct 19: Almost one-fifth of the city’s population, residing on both sides of the Mauripur and Hawkesbay roads, has been facing traffic jams on a daily basis, causing an immense loss of working hours.

The inhalation for hours on end of dust and smoke by the motorists using the two roads is also adversely affecting their health, it is feared. A drive from Jinnah Bridge to Hawkesbay, which is hardly 14km long, is usually covered in two hours during peak time due to the vehicular congestion.

Not an inch of this road is carpeted because its frequent use by heavy vehicles has made the stones and gravel come to the surface. The road is full of potholes.

The commuters who use the private cars and motorcycles and public vehicles are the worst sufferers. Except for the small portion of the population who reside in the Naval Colony, most residents come from lower and middle-class families.

These people spend a lot of time worrying over how to get to work or back home in time. One Allah Rakkha, who works in a warehouse set up on the road, told Dawn the other day that due to a truck stand and several warehouses, the misery of the residents has multiplied.

The rain that lashed Karachi not long ago had caused an erosion of the road’s carpeting, he said. Large craters had also appeared in it, making it difficult to use.

He said several times patients in critical condition and people who had met with accidents died before they could reach a medical facility. An official living in the vicinity, who did not want to be identified, said the ongoing work on the Northern bypass bridges had blocked up a part of the road.

He said nowhere else in the world were warehouses allowed in the coastal areas and on roads leading up to the downtown settlements. It was high time the authorities paid attention to the menace and relocated the warehouses.

He said it seemed as if there was no government or authority to pay attention to the problems of the area’s residents. “Before the recent rain, the situation was not so bad. The situation now is simply pathetic,” he said.

He stressed the need for rebuilding the roads immediately. He also said a 4km patch should be built between the Hawkesbay road and RCD Highway.

Many people who recently had been shifted to Hawkesbay from different parts of Lyari, owing to the construction work on the Lyari Expressway there, told Dawn that they have had to make a fresh start in life.

They now have to travel for hours before they reach their places of work which are close to their previous homes. They said no doubt their new neighbourhood was almost pollution-free but they now spent several tension-filled hours on the road every day.

A driver said since the last rain his four-wheeler had been facing all kinds of faults due to the potholed and uneven roads. He said he was a regular payer of taxes and was entitled to good roads.

“I am not bothered who is supposed to give us better roads. I am a taxpayer and as such am entitled to roads free of potholes and craters.”