RAWALPINDI: Travelling on dug-up roads in the garrison city has become a nightmare for motorists as the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) has started development works in the last month of the fiscal year allagedly without coordination or safety measures.

Before the end of the fiscal year, the local civic body carried out digging on roads in the name of development work. Raja Bazaar from Fawara Chowk to Hamilton Road has already been closed to traffic for the last one year in the name of a pedestrian street, which has still not been completed due to the alleged “careless attitude” of the Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation.

Meanwhile, Wasa has closed Hamilton Road and dug up the entire stretch from Tyre Bazaar to Gawalmandi, while Tyre Bazaar, Jamia Masjid Road, Ghazni Road and Farooq-i-Azam Road have also been affected, leaving little space for people to access major bazaars in Rawalpindi.

Strangely, these roads were constructed in 2024 under a development package of Rs2 billion, but within two years, they have been dug up again, and civic bodies are expected to spend millions once more on road construction.

The RMC has failed to complete the Raja Bazaar pedestrian street despite the passage of one year and three months. Instead of waiting for its completion, Wasa started new work to lay sewerage lines just two months before the monsoon.

A senior official of the district administration said that no safety measures had been adopted, which would create problems for people travelling on these roads. Under safety requirements, dug-up roads should be covered and contractors should speed up work to avoid any untoward situation in the densely populated area.

“Instead of improving the condition of the sewerage nullah and removing encroachments from Jamia Masjid Road to Dehli Dawakhana on Ghazni Road, Wasa has started work to lay a new sewerage line to discharge sewage into Leh Nullah at Gunjmandi,” he said.

Due to the construction work, goods transport trucks have been forced to take alternative routes via Murree Road to supply goods to the grain market and other wholesale markets.

The administration is also planning to close Gunjmandi Square for further digging to lay a sewerage line, which would make it more difficult for people to reach Raja Bazaar.

“We were not consulted before the development work, which has destroyed business in the wholesale market for the Potohar region. Goods trucks will not reach on time as they have to come through Murree Road or Khyaban-i-Sir Syed instead of Railways Road from Dhoke Hassun to Gunjmandi,” said Traders Association President Sharjeel Mir.

“We had demanded from the local administration to close Gunjmandi Chowk on Eid days for work, but our demand went unnoticed,” said Goods Transport Association President Shaqeel Qureshi.

He said that instead of improving existing nullahs, Wasa had launched new sewerage line projects to replace them. “We brought the matter to the notice of the assistant commissioner, but no one listened,” he said.

He added that filling 25 feet-deep excavations on Hamilton Road would take time, and delays in construction would create problems during the upcoming monsoon, which usually starts at the end of June. “How will we operate trucks as this is the main road for goods transport terminals,” he said.

Residents of the downtown area are also deeply disturbed over the situation. Talking to Dawn, they said the civic authorities had not provided any alternate routes, causing severe inconvenience.

“We are facing traffic congestion due to the bad condition of the roads,” said Shafique Ahmed, a resident of Akal Garh. He added that it had become difficult to use cars or motorcycles in the city these days.

Suhail Malik, a resident of Banni Chowk, said the government mostly starts such projects before the monsoon, creating more discomfort than convenience. He said the worst traffic jams were witnessed in the area during daytime.

When approached, Wasa officials said the government was working to provide civic facilities to residents and that people would have to wait a few weeks.

Published in Dawn, May 16th, 2026