HARIPUR, March 16: Travelling on Railway Road, the second busiest road of the city, has become a troublesome fatigue for motorists and vehicle owners owing to its dilapidated condition. The two kilometer-road from the main square to T&T Colony was blacktopped about a decade ago but the department concerned never bothered to use standard material to repair it. The inches-deep ditches in the road are just filled with earth after some time to pacify the complaining people.

“Even the ditches are filled only when some dignitary is traveling on this road,” said Irshad, a shopkeeper of Railway Road. He added that the trenches filled with earth got exposed after a slight drizzle, making mockery of the often repeated claims of elected representatives regarding approving projects for the facelift of Haripur city.

Most of the motorists prefer to avoid travelling on this bumpy road. “If someone ventures to use this road under compulsion, the journey ends up with heavy bill of mechanic for the repair work of the vehicle,” a motorist said.

Journey on this road is also quite troublesome for women, children and elderly people, especially those riding a rickshaw or Suzuki pick-up.

“The condition of civic services in the city is contempt of 500,000 voters, who have voted four MPAs, one of them having a berth in the provincial cabinet,” said Tanveer, a businessman.

He lamented that despite the fact that Haripur district contributed millions of rupees to the provincial exchequer monthly, the government was diverting funds to Mardan and other districts, creating a sense of deprivation among people.

An official of communication and works department, when contacted, said that repair of Railway Road and some other roads in the city was proposed to the provincial government. He hoped that budget would be approved for those projects soon.