Roads repair remains a distant dream

Lack of coordination between local bodies and use of poor-quality material blamed

KARACHI:

Lack of cooperation and coordination between local bodies and alleged use of substandard material in the reconstruction of roads in the metropolitan city has cast doubts on the much publicized exercise of the Sindh government.

Driving a car or riding a motorcycle on Rashid Minhas Road, the most important road connecting the city's northern part with south and east, remains an agonizing experience. According to local residents, this road has been reconstructed several times, but the faulty drainage system has never been fixed.

This is the reason that drain-water soon eats away the road after every repair. Persisting problems in the derelict drainage system have made life equally miserable for passers-by and residents of the neighborhood.

Similarly, the road patch from Nipa Chowrangi to Sohrab Goth is always inundated with water leaking from the main pipeline in the area, which not only creates potholes on the road but also causes water shortage in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Block No.5. Local residents say that the road has been rebuilt and repaired several times, but the pipeline leakage has never been plugged.

This is one of the busiest roads in the city which is used by tens of thousands of motorists, motorcyclists and commuters daily. But this patch of road, which is always in disrepair, is a nightmare for them as they get stuck in messy traffic jams for hours.

In this situation, people try to wriggle their way out through streets and by-lanes of Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Block No. 5, skirting the traffic jams. The noisy traffic in the streets has become a nuisance for the local residents who are now erecting barriers in their streets to discourage these unwelcome guests.

The local union council chairman has said that Rs70 million is required to fix the problem, according to residents.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 8^th, 2022.