NAROWAL: Travel on the road linking Narowal with Zafarwal and Shakargarh tehsils has been a nightmare for motorist for the last several years with no repair seems to be in sight.

There are ditches on many parts of the road. As there is no sewerage in villages situated on both sides of Zafarwal-Shakargarh Road, water accumulates on the road.

There are one to two feet deep ditches and potholes due to mud on the road. Loaded trucks off and on overturn owing to the dilapidated condition of the road.

During the last one month, four loaded trucks overturned, causing injuries to drivers and helpers. Around two weeks back, a woman Sughra Bibi along with her two granddaughters Maria and Saaera, residents of Basra Jala village in the vicinity of Shakargarh, was coming from Bajarh Pul village on a rickshaw when the three-wheeler collided with a tractor-trolley. As a result both the girls died on the spot while five people, including women, were seriously injured.

A truck laden with crushed stones overturned all of a sudden the other day on Zafarwal-Shakargarh Road due to ditches and mud, causing injuries to [truck] driver Munawwar Khan and helper Rashid Khan who were shifted to a nearly hospital whereas the traffic flow was badly affected by the accident.

Residents of Bajarh Pul, Karamat Ali and Sanaullah, say accidents on this road occur [almost] everyday. More than 25 passengers including men, women and children, were seriously injured during the last one month.

“We have submitted applications to local MPA and provincial minister Pir Syed Saeedul Hassan Shah and the Narowal district administration but to no avail,” says Sanaullah.

Locals have demanded that Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar take notice of the situation and issue funds for the road.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2020