SWABI: The dilapidated Topi bypass road and Ghazi Bazaar to Ghazi-Barotha Dam Barrage Road have become too risky for travelling, transporters and commuters belonging to various regions told Dawn.

The transporters said that the barrage road linked Topi to Ghazi, a sub-tehsil of Haripur district onwards to Islamabad and Rawalpindi, especially Tehsil Topi with the rest of the country, and due to Gadoon Amazai Industrial Estate, Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology, Tarbela Dam and Ghazi Barotha Dam offices, there was a great rush of heavy trucks and other vehicles that operate round the clock.

The same road is used to transport materials through heavy vehicles for the under construction fifth extension of Tarbela Dam, while the tourists visiting the Tarbela Dam and Ghazi-Barotha Dam downstream also used these roads.

Muhammad Rafiq, a driver who daily travels to Islamabad from Topi city told Dawn that the road from Ghazi Bazaar to Barrage of Ghazi Barotha Dam was about four kilometers long, from Topi check post to GIK Institute 6km and similarly the Topi bypass was about 5.5km while Swabi-Topi Road from district headquarters to Tarbela Dam was 18km and all these roads were in a very bad condition.

Local representatives accuse govt of ignoring their demands

All these roads fall in the constituency of Asad Qaiser, former speaker of the National Assembly and provincial minister for transport Rangaiz Ahmad Khan.

The transporters said that already there were ditches in these roads and with the stagnant rainwater during the recent torrential downpours the ditches got bigger, making the road more dilapidated and difficult for the public transporters and commuters for traveling.

The apathy of Pakistan Tehreek-i-insaf (PTI) leadership had forced the leaders of tehsil Topi local government representatives to set up a camp a few weeks back, collecting donations for repairing Topi bypass road because the elected representatives including ministers did not pay any heed to the people’s genuine demand.

Ibrar Khan, chairman west union council said: “We have collected Rs92,000 donation and repaired the ditches but with the recent rains the ditched had developed again. The ruling party leaders, they said, were not ready to listen to them despite repeated appeals.”

When contacted the Pakhtunkhwa Highway Authority assistant director, Kamran Khan, said that they had started repair work of 18km Swabi-Topi Road and they plan to utilise the available funds while keeping in mind financial constraints.

He said that Rs35 million had been approved for the barrage road, admitting that it was really in a very bad condition.

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2025