THE construction of projects with aesthetic appeal is in full swing in several areas across Rawalpindi district, but some of the projects make little sense in terms of their functional utility. One such example is the beautification of the main bazaar of Kahuta tehsil of the district. The bazaar is located around the main road, used by the trucks, buses and cars from the main town as well as by the traffic between Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Rawalpindi. The road that passes through the main bazaar serves, in addition to everything else, as an important communication artery for defence forces’ movement, but it suffers from congestion due to mismanaged parking, and needs to be widened; not narrowed.

Presently, the road has been considerably narrowed due to arched arcades being constructed on both sides of the road. Practically speaking, once complete, the project would cause even more congestion than what happens to be the case today.

Kahuta town badly needs a proper bypass, which was approved during the tenure of some earlier government, but the project has been put on back burner now. The provincial government should speed up the stalled project. The removal of encroachments and the widening of roads that have been attempted by the govern-ment at places in Kahuta are praiseworthy efforts, but this beautification project does not serve any practical purpose at all.

Brig (retd) Dr Raashid Wali Janjua
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2026