PHOTO: AFP
The road has been in a dilapidated condition for a while now and most vehicles have to be driven in zigzags to avoid the pool-like potholes especially near Kak Bridge, the Sihala Police Station, Humak Model Town and the underpass connecting the Grand Trunk (GT) Road.
Residents of Humak and adjoining localities have demanded that the civic authorities immediately repair the artery which connects the GT Road to the Islamabad Expressway - linking Azad Jammu and Kashmir with other parts of the country.
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The last time the road was repaired was just before the general elections in 2013 when the Punjab government used specially allocated funds to widen it. But it has received little maintenance since.
"The shaky movement of long and heavily loaded vehicles, carrying goods on the bumpy single-road poses a great threat to commuters," said Ali Raza, a resident of Humak, told APP on Sunday. The situation worsens when long-vehicles, trucks and oil tankers park in long queues along both sides of the broken road as they await their turn for loading at the factories. This reduces the space for vehicles to ply.
"This practice is going unchecked as there is no deployment of traffic police [on this road]," he said, adding that the narrow passage and the ramshackle road were a constant nuisance for residents, which needed immediate attention of the authorities.
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Muhammad Ali, another resident, said that this section of the road has virtually turned into a parking lot for the industrial triangle.
"The increasing trend of criminal parking can cause fatal accidents any time," he said, adding that the matter had been brought to the notice of senior officials at the Islamabad Traffic Police.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 18th, 2020.
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