CHITRAL, March 27: The slow pace of work on the Abdul Wali Khan by-pass has proved to be a constant source of inconvenience for the dwellers of Chital city due to the indifferent attitude of the communication and works department.

Talking to Dawn here on Sunday, a number of people complained that the road had become a trap for them instead of solving the problem of congested vehicular traffic.

The starting point of the 1.8km road passes through the hillock near the Chew Bridge which divides the city into two and the blockade of road at this point is creating nuisance for public on both sides.

The ground breaking ceremony of the project had been performed by the chief minister on 30th October 2010 with the promise that the project will be completed within two months.

Abdul Haq, a former union council nazim, complained that only token work was in progress on the road with only one excavator at work and no machinery to remove the debris. He pointed out that if the same pace of work was maintained then it would take more than a year before the workwas completed on the by-pass.

Fazle Raziq, a shopkeeper, said that the work on the project remained stopped for two months but the executing department did not take any action against the contractor.

“One has to wait for hours to pass through the hillock due to blockade of the road and the situation aggravates in the morning and afternoon when offices and educational institutions are opened and closed,” he says.

Wishing not to be named, a person working in a government office, said that he had to pass through the hillock daily for his office facing dust flown off the wheels of the passing vehicles. “It is really embarrassing to enter the office with your face and shoes soaked in dust,” he laments.

The school and college students, especially girls, are the worst affected as their buses remain stranded due to traffic congestion.

Habib Ali, a resident of Mughlandeh, says his daughter daily misses the first two classes of her college situated on the other side of the hillock as her bus often remains stuck in traffic jam.

Inside sources told Dawn that the public works department initiated the work without issuing proper work order to the contractor which was in contravention of the codes of the department. They said laxity on the part of the contractor was because of non-payment of dues.