Zamzama traffic woes: How would you like it if someone dug you up and left you like that?

The laying of a pipeline has taken two weeks - and counting.

KARACHI:

Driving up or down Zamzama Road’s two narrow lanes is never an enjoyable trip for motorists. As of two weeks ago, however, construction work on the road has only made this more cumbersome. Shopkeepers are equally disgruntled since the added inconvenience means less people opt to shop in the busy market. The cantonment, meanwhile, insists that it is not a big problem and should be sorted out soon.

The lanes have been dug up, in the resulting traffic chaos, customers have been diverted to shopping malls with proper parking facilities is available, said traders on Saturday.

The work started in the first week of October, however, it has progressed at a snail’s pace and shop owners have to clear the debris from the front of their stores themselves.

“I think they are putting in some kind of electricity wires,” guessed a young man in charge of a garment store. “No! They are digging it up to construct a new sewerage system,” said another who looks after a sports goods outlet.

In recent years, Zamzama has gone from a high-end street to hangout place for people across the city. Both sides of the street are lined with boutiques, restaurants and jewelry stores.

The Cantonment Board of Clifton (CBC) and Defence Housing Authority (DHA) officials did not bother telling anyone what was the digging for, traders say.

A Pizza Hut outlet manager claims that he has not seen workers on the street for the past week-and-a-half. “What can I say? This is the way things work here,” he said mournfully. “As far as customers are concerned, people have become used to jumping over the ditches.” Even before the latest construction started, there were unpaved patches on the road - remnants of half-done work from the past, said Mudassir, caretaker of a garment store.

“This seems like a minor issue,” he bitterly, “but ask me how it feels seeing a customer drive off just because there is no parking space.”

CBC spokesman Amir Abdur Rab said that the inconvenience was temporary as a water pipeline was being laid. “Our contractor started the work few days back. It’s not a big problem,” he said dismissively. “Only few patches of road need to be levelled.” He said that the traders’ concerns were unjustified as the work was meant for the betterment of residents.

Traffic mismanagement

Traders complain that, besides the haphazard digging of the road, Zamzama is choked on weekends as there is no traffic management system.

From Do Talwar, the first signal does not work. From every direction, vehicles try to overtake each other at the interchange, causing a bumper-to-bumper jam. There is an open manhole on the right side, the only warning for the traffic hazard is a palm tree branch jammed into the opening.

“What is the point of complaining?” asked a woman running a boutique. “There are much bigger issues in the city than the traffic problem at Zamzama. I know the road will be paved in few days.”

But Qamar, a worker at a garment store, spread his arms in bewilderment, staring at the mess. “I have all the more right to protest because the DHA vigilance staff makes our lives miserable if we put even as much as a few boxes out on the side of the road for a while.”

Zamzama also happens to be part of the 19-D bus route. One rickety old passenger bus is enough to block the road, complains Junaid, another trader. “Drivers stop the bus wherever they want.”

The traffic police, meanwhile, are almost always absent when vehicles need to be directed, he said. “Actually, the police are helpless here because government officials park their cars wherever they feel like it. I think the police have given up and left us on our own.”

A heap of sand and rocks left in front of the Butler’s Café entrance has been getting in the customers’ way. “We desperately need some parking arrangement here,” said the manager, Robin.

Parking Plaza

Work on a multi-storey parking plaza near Zamzama Park has stalled for years now. A DHA spokesman said that project has been on hold because of issues with property. “We want to complete it as soon as possible,” he explained. “It is the best way to relieve congestion from Zamzama.”

As an alternate, restaurants have hired valets to park cars in the residential area behind the street. However, the narrow lanes mean that there is never enough space for all the cars and the road gets jammed, especially on the weekends.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 1^st, 2011.