GUJRAT: Travel on the national highways falling in Punjab has become a nightmare for commuters as their different sections have been in need of repair and relay for the last several years.

Those who commute on highways frequently, mostly the drivers of public and private transport vehicles and the people residing in towns along the GT Road (also called national highway) right from Jhelum to Lahore and then up to Sahiwal and Multan areas, complaining about the poor condition of the highway and bumpy rides. The maintenance process at different stretches in Punjab is also facing delays for want of funds.

The old stretch of the N-5 between Multan and Bahawalpur (dual carriageway) has been in a bad condition since long whereas the situation of the Indus Highway between Dera Ismail Khan and DG Khan is worse. Beside repairs, the two-way Indus Highway requires dualisation due to traffic load.

Another section of the national highway (known as KLP) from Muzaffargarh to Shehr Sultan is dotted with potholes.

Sick of the poor condition of highways, the motorists question the PTI government’s decision of ranking Minister for Communications Murad Saeed on the top of the list of high-performing cabinet members. Moreover, they say the NHA, which is earning huge amounts from toll tax collection on the national highways, has failed to ensure timely maintenance of the roads.

A senior official of the National Highways & Motorway Police (NHMP) has told Dawn that the police high-ups regularly point out the poor state of highways, which is also a major cause of fatal road accidents.

An NHA official told Dawn, on condition of anonymity, that the delay in the maintenance work was due to procedural hitches in the tendering process. For instance, he added, the maintenance of the Wazirabad bypass right from the Chenab bridge towards Gujranwala was underway these days. The process of the execution of the project was initiated more than a year ago but the work was launched last month. Similarly, he said, the frequent increase in raw material prices was the second major reason for the delays as the construction cost had seen a 100pc hike during the last couple of years.

An official of a contractor firm that had recently completed the maintenance work of some kilometers stretch between Lalamusa and Kharian and currently engaged in the same work in the south Punjab, said the rates his firm earlier quoted in the tendering process more than a year ago did not match the current rates of material in the market.

He said due to unstable rates of material, the contractor firms and NHA had to go through the revision of the contract rates time and again whereas the initiation of electronic e-tendering had also been another major reason in delaying the repairs. He said the NHA should ease the tendering process whereas the government should work on bringing stability in the market rates of construction material.

As per the motorists who commute frequently on the GT Road between Lahore, Gujranwala and Gujrat rue the poor condition of the road. They say that besides repair, a third lane should also be added from Gujranwala to Rawalpindi, considering the traffic load.

Sohail Aftab, a spokesman for the NHA, said the Lahore-Gujranwala section was completed in 2009 and it needed a complete rehabilitation now. However, he added, the maintenance of the section was done at different times and the authority had allocated Rs435m in the annual plan of 2021-22. He added that the recent spell of rains had developed more potholes, which were being rectified while the maintenance work would be launched soon.

Mr Aftab hoped that the construction of the proposed Kharian-Islamabad motorway would ease the pressure of traffic on the GT Road.

Asked about maintenance of N5 in other areas of Punjab, he said the construction of more alternate highways and routes had been planned for various areas of Punjab while repair was being done in south Punjab areas for which the pace of work would be improved.

Another source in the NHA said the paucity of funds for the launching the maintenance projects on a regular basis had been an issue as more funds were required from the government.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2022