Dangerous roads

Letter April 10, 2015
On the road from Faizabad to Pirwadhai in Rawalpindi, there is a huge depression in the middle of the road

ISLAMABAD: My sister Ayeshah cried, “Watch out, Arslan,” pulling her two-year-old son tight against her, as she saw the swinging container of a truck nearly fall on us as its rear wheels entered a depression on the road.

On the road from Faizabad to Pirwadhai in Rawalpindi, just as one leaves the premises of the Faizabad bus stands and is about to pass under the newly built Metro Bus Flyover, there is a huge depression in the middle of the road. The continuous rain from previous months has further battered the road, and a water-filled pool is usually observed on rainy days. Right now, the depression is roughly one-foot deep at its worst spots, and extends almost throughout the breadth of the road, leaving little room for drivers to avoid it. Drivers slow down when passing through this stretch of the road to avoid damaging their cars. This further aids the bottleneck at the Metro flyover construction site, resulting in terrible traffic jams, not to mention the everyday traffic bust-ups associated with the Faizabad Adda. Furthermore, there is a high risk of the loaded containers getting toppled.

However, our authorities seem neither ‘reactive’ nor ‘proactive’ regarding the matter. While billions of dollars have been spent on the Metro, the authorities concerned (the CDA in particular) are requested to undertake immediate repair of that particular patch on one of the busiest roads of the capital territory — on a priority basis.

Syed M Arslan

Published in The Express Tribune, April 11th,  2015.

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