ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has blocked both lanes of Faqir Aipee Road for repair work, which has created problems for motorists, who have no alternate route to take.

The road has been closed from the Metro Store up to the chowk near the Nescom Hospital.

A source in the CDA said that according to the work zone traffic management, only one lane of the road should have been closed.

“We have no alternative route now. CDA should first finish with the construction of one lane before starting work on the other. But who cares about citizens,” said Najeeb Khan, a commuter.

Faqir Aipee Road is a busy road which connects traffic from Pirwadhai, Sabzi Mandi and I-11 with the Kashmir Highway. With the closure of part of the road, motorists now have to take a longer route to circumvent the closed road and get to the Kashmir Highway.

“This is an important road and CDA should complete construction work as soon as possible because blocking the road has created many problems for us,” said Iqbal Ali, a taxi driver.

CDA officials said that the civic agency had delayed starting work on the road throughout the fiscal year and in order to complete the road before June 30, was now conducting the repair work in a hurry.

“That is why we completed both the lanes at the same time,” an official of CDA’s Engineering Wing said.

He added that the Faqir Aipee Road is one of the most dilapidated in the city and that throughout the year CDA had focused on improving roads in the northern sectors including F-6, F-7, F-8 and G-6.

However, director road (south) Shahid Mahmood differed with such claims.

He said that repair work on the road will be completed within three months. When asked about closing off both the lanes he said: “We are reconstructing the road with a cemented track on this portion which is why we closed both the lanes.”

Talking about inconveniences to motorists, he said: “I do agree that during construction work on roads, motorists have to face problems but if we keep one of the lanes open, it will be difficult for us to concentrate on the construction work during traffic. As for an alternate route, motorists can use the service road.”

The road is named after Pakhtun leader Mirza Ali Khan of Fata, who lived from 1897 to 1960, and was known as the Faqir of Aipee.

According to published literature, he fought against British rulers.

The village of Aipee is located near the Mirali Camp in North Waziristan from where Faqir started his guerrilla war against the British Empire.

Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2016