Travelling on the dug-up roads in the garrison city has become a nightmare for motorists after the civic bodies started the development work last months.

The government has rushed to complete the development schemes in different parts of the city before the announcement of the general elections. The provincial government released funds in December and asked the civic bodies to complete the projects within two months.

From Murree Road to Banni Chowk and Airport Road and from Raja Bazaar to Pirwadhai, work on laying water and sewerage lines and construction of streets and underpasses is in progress, creating traffic gridlocks.

Traffic police have failed to provide alternative routes to commuters where the projects are in progress. There is no coordination between the civic bodies and the traffic police.

The dug-up roads have also become prone to accidents.

The Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation, Rawalpindi Development Authority, Water and Sanitation Agency and the district administration are paying no heed to the problems of the residents.

Jamia Masjid Road and Circular Road, for example, have become death traps for motorcyclists and pedestrians alike. Stagnant water remains accumulated between Murree Road and Banni Chowk.

The situation is worse on the roads where construction work is underway for laying water and sewerage lines.

Motorists find it difficult to drive on the roads due to potholes, which result into traffic snarls at several places. Even public transporters face difficulty on these roads and taxi drivers refuse to go to the downtown area.

The residents of the downtown areas seem deeply disturbed over the situation.

Talking to Dawn, they said the civic authority did not provide any alternative route for commuters and careless digging on main roads had turned the city into ruins creating inconvenience for the residents.

”We are facing traffic rush due to the poor condition of roads,” said Shafique Ahmed, a resident of Waris Khan.

Suhail Malik, of Banni Chowk, said the government started most of the projects as the elections approached.

AML President Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told Dawn that the provincial government had failed to complete the 400-bed mother and child hospital even after 10 years and was spending funds on streets and roads which had been constructed twice in the last three years.

MPA Arif Abbasi said the government was reconstructing roads and streets which had been constructed last year.

He said the government started construction of an underpass at Shamsabad which should have been completed in 2014 along with the metro bus project. “It is an effort to woo voters before the elections,” he said.

A senior official of the district administration said the water supply schemes were included in the annual development programme. He said the roads had to be dug up for laying water supply and sewerage lines.

He said the repair work on roads would be started once the water supply lines were laid.

When contacted, Chief Municipal Officer Khalid Goraya said the government was working to provide civic facilities to the residents.

He said it was the responsibility of the civic body to provide facilities to the citizens while regulating traffic was the job of the traffic police.

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2018