SWABI: Local residents on Tuesday demanded an early completion of the 12-kilometer-long Kunda-Kalabat road because extensive digging is causing problems to not only the inhabitants of the houses located along both sides of the artery, but also to the motorists and pedestrians.

Officials in the communication and works department told Dawn the road costing Rs221 million would be completed in 18 months time.

It passes through densely population areas like Kunda, Zaida, Marghuz, Kalabat and Tandkoi. The road’s widening is meant to absorb heavy traffic load.

The residents said rainwater remained in the dugout portions for a long time, weakening the foundations of their houses. “If the road is not completed before the coming monsoon then buildings standing on the edge of the road would be damaged,” Iftikhar Khan, provincial additional secretary of Qaumi Watan Party, feared.

Abdul Wasi of Tandkoi village said: “The local residents want early completion of the road to avoid damage to their houses.”

The residents said they had also approached Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Asad Qaisar demanding early completion of the road.

When contacted, Rehmanullah, sub-divisional officer in the communication and works department, said as the government had so far released only Rs20 million of the Rs221 million, the road’s timely completion seemed improbable.

However, he said Asad Qaisar had written a letter to the chief minister for early release of the funds while seeking completion of the road till June as the delay would impact on his vote bank in the area.

THREE ARRESTED: Topi police arrested three accused involved in the killing of a taxi driver of Mardan, DSP Mumtaz Khan told a press conference here on Tuesday.

He said the arrested men confessed to the killing of the taxi driver, whose body was found on Sept 30, last year, from Pehur High Level Canal area.

Published in Dawn, January 13th, 2016