TWO highways in the twin cities of Rawalpindi-Islamabad have become a metaphor for public misery and injury. One is the Soan bridge on G.T. Road connecting the Islamabad capital territory (ICT) to Rawalpindi, and the other is the Islamabad Expressway linking Rawat to Islamabad. The expressway has already earned the sobriquet of ‘Depressway’ amongst the hapless daily commuters. And rightly so.

The Soan bridge is linked with the bridge on Leh Nullah and one of the piers near abutment collapsed during construction. Luckily, no vehicle was on the spot on that day. The collapse of the pier has further delayed a project that was already delayed for years and has made the stretch hazardous and congested for commuters in peak as well as non-peak hours.

The stretch has claimed precious lives with the collision of a dumper with a light vehicle recently. The loss of human lives is unpardonable and those who are managing the desultorily organised project and the traffic flow are both answerable for the egregious failure to protect human lives.

Similar loss of life has been experienced due to accidents involving heavy as well as light vehicles on Islamabad Expressway where, according to Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI), 23,452 vehicles pass at Anchorage flyover, 48,444 at PWD interchange and 68,002 at Koral Chowk. According to the same research, the existing expressway infrastructure is lagging behind by 25 years to support the influx of vehicles on the highway.

The slow pace of the project and the deadly bottlenecks are a veritable diurnal threat to commuters’ safety. The Capital Development Authority (CDA) appears to have no control over the contractors, who are proceeding with the project without road safety instructions.

Perhaps the whole model of project management and its monitoring by the relevant oversight bodies need an overhaul to address public misery and avoid the loss of lives due to accidents on these under-construction highways.

Brig (retd) Dr Raashid Wali Janjua
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2023