Concern expressed on poor condition of KKH

Complaint filed on Citizen’s Portal

ABBOTTABAD:

WIth several sections of the Karakoram Highway (KKH) damaged due to rains and landslides, impacting the traffic on it, the issue has been raised by a local businessman and a complaint has also been filed on the Prime Minister’s ‘Citizen’s Portal’.

Muhammad Nazeer, a local businessman, who hails from Abbottabad but currently lives in Islamabad, said that rainwater often accumulates on a ten-kilometre-long stretch of the highway while passing through Abbottabad city. The water makes it difficult for motorists and pedestrians to traverse through it and causes hours-ling traffic jams.

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“[Poor] rainwater drainage has become so poor that whenever it rains in Abbottabad, the Mansehra road gets flooded with water presenting the picture of a lake and a gushing river runs on the main road and link streets,” he said.

Even though much of the inter-provincial traffic has now been diverted onto the Hazara Motorway, residents of Abbottabad have not received any relief because heavy vehicles continue to use the KKH.

He lamented that their elected representatives have failed to adequate address the issue faced by the public and that plans should be made to rehabilitate the KKH from Havelian to Mangal interchanges complete with a proper drainage system on the Mansehra road and removal of encroachment.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 7^th, 2020.