RAWALPINDI: The slow pace of work on the reconstruction of Adamjee Road by the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) is causing problems for commuters and visitors to the commercial area.
The civic body has dug up the road in Saddar, the commercial hub of cantonment areas, adding to the problems of the commuters and visitors to the markets.
Motorists find it difficult to drive on the road due to its bad condition. Traffic coming from Murree Road, Haider Road, Kashmir Road and other arteries gets choked around the congested area.
The road and its footpaths are being reconstructed at a cost of Rs37 million under the Shinning Saddar Project.
Adamjee Road and its footpaths are being reconstructed at a cost of Rs37m under Shinning Saddar Project
Visitors to Saddar expressed their resentment and said the slow pace of work on the reconstruction of the road was causing inconvenience to them, especially office goers.
They suggested that the civic body should speed up the work.
Mohammad Jamil, a visitor, said people were facing numerous problems while passing through the dug-up road.
He said mostly commuters used this road to visit Saddar and Raja Bazaar.
Iftikhar Ali said: “It is impossible for us to cross the road and during rains we have to use Bank Road to go to Kashmir Road but one cannot enter this road via Kashmir Road as it is one-way.” He said potholes and ditches developed on the road in front of Computer Market also posed danger to pedestrians.“Due to the bad condition of the road, it is difficult for us to use the alternate Bank Road and Haider Road,” said Saeed Ahmed, a shopkeeper in Singapore Plaza.
Another shop owner, Haider Ali, complained that only a few customers visited his shop and on rainy days the shop had to be closed as no shoppers visited the area due to the poor condition of the road.
When contacted, RCB spokesman Qaiser Mehmood said ‘Shining Saddar’ was a very important project that would improve the condition of the whole Saddar area. “Under the project, all roads will be improved in the area,” he said.
He said work on the road started two weeks ago and would be completed as soon as possible.
He said digging had been carried out on the roadsides to lay underground electric and cable wires so it would take time.
However, he said arrangements had been made to facilitate the commuters during the construction o the road. He said there was a need to improve the condition of all roads in the area.
Mr Mehmood expressed the hope that the project would be completed at the earliest and problems being faced by the visitors would be resolved.
Published in Dawn, January 10th, 2021
