DERA GHAZI KHAN: After years of delays and government ‘inaction’, a vital bridge connecting the cities of Taunsa and Layyah is finally open to traffic, thanks to the determination and self-funded efforts of local residents.

The bridge over the Indus, which drastically shortens the travel distance between the twin cities, had become a symbol of ‘bureaucratic stagnation’. First announced in 1988 with a foundation stone laid by then Chief Minister Nawaz Sharif, the project was abandoned for 30 years. While the bridge structure itself was completed in 2020 after a 2018 re-launch, it remained unusable for five more years due to unfinished approach roads and necessary embankment work.

Frustrated by endless appeals and protests that yielded no official response, the people of Taunsa took matters into their own hands. This month, two local brothers, Ghulam Shabbir Jarwar and Rafiq Jarwar, led a community effort. They provided the bulk of the machinery and capital, with area residents contributing donations, to construct the crucial link roads.

The volunteer workers completed the connecting passage in just one week, from Jan 2 2 to 9. Traffic began flowing immediately, and the local community has been celebrating the achievement with a festive atmosphere along the new route.

Make rough track on self-help basis and want govt to build roads, embankments

However, the celebration is tempered by practical challenges. The current community-built road is unpaved and rough.

Residents have urged the Punjab government to make arrangements for paving the makeshift track and complete the long-pending embankments to properly channel the Indus River beneath the bridge before the summer floods arrive.

Published in Dawn, January 14th, 2026