RAWALPINDI: Public movement across Rawalpindi is experiencing significant disruption because of the extensive road closures due to the ongoing work on the remodeling of Kutchery Chowk, causing severe congestion and increasing commute times.
Hundreds of people had to break their fast inside their vehicles after being stuck in traffic, especially near Jinnah Park and Adiala circle areas on Monday.
The most affected commuters included ordinary people and those who have to rush to hospitals, colleges, universities and workplaces. The alternative roads are left in poor condition with clouds of dust rising from the construction material scattered on roads near Jinnah Park and the dug-up road for pipelines in the Harley Street area.
The City Traffic Police have drawn the attention of authorities concerned toward the issue many times, including the DIG traffic police Punjab, the commissioner and deputy commissioner Rawalpindi and City Police Officer Syed Khalid Hamdani, but to no avail.
Alternative roads left in poor condition with clouds of dust rising from construction material scattered on roads near Jinnah Park
The traffic staff at Adiala circle has reported that the road from Harley Street turn towards Kalma Chowk was excavated for the laying of a gas pipeline. Although the pipeline has since been laid about a month ago, the road surface has not yet been repaired due to which the traffic flow has been severely affected.
Due to the ongoing signal-free corridor project and the closure of Kutchery and Annexe Chowk, an extraordinary volume of traffic is already being diverted to this road. During peak hours, long queues of vehicles are observed causing significant inconvenience to the general public.
Deep potholes and uneven patches at Harley Street are posing serious risks. Small vehicles frequently get stuck and motorcyclists often fall which may lead to any major untoward incident.
The traffic police requested the authorities concerned that the road from Harley Street turn to Kalma Chowk be repaired on immediate basis in the interest of public safety and smooth flow of traffic.
A senior traffic police official who has been supervising the traffic staff duty at Adiala circle told Dawn that even though the gas pipeline had been laid about a month ago, the road surface had not yet been repaired.
“Is it the duty of traffic police to repair the dug-up roads and remove encroachments to clear roads? The situation is worst due to encroachments at Girga Road, Tench Bhatta, Dhoke Syedan road and Harley Street,” he said.
He added that the traffic engineering department has never consulted the traffic police while erecting u-turns or closing them or creating diversions.
Due to the unrepaired road surface, hundreds of commuters remained stuck in traffic mess on Harley Street and Kalma Chowk. It is not a matter of a few days, the public suffering has been continuing since the Kutchery Chowk was closed for remodeling.
The attention of the authorities concerned had been drawn to the worst situation many times, especially by the traffic police who directly face public anger and resentment over the poor road conditions even though the traffic police were not supposed to repair roads.
A couple from DHA remained stuck in a traffic mess near Jinnah Park and broke their fast in their car while returning home from hospital on Monday.
Residents of the city had to wait for the day when the Kutchery Chowk would be opened for traffic. However, they believe that the terrible condition of other roads will remain unchanged because they could not be repaired after the mega project was launched.
Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2026
