Hasty construction, road blocks gives Peshawar little space to breathe

City’s development authority had devised a priority list for projects, which was disregarded by provincial government.

PESHAWAR:

Peshawar has been a victim of neglect in the past decade, with poor planning and a growing population increasing congestion in the provincial capital.

All provincial governments in the past 10 years have failed to develop Peshawar’s infrastructure, while the hasty construction of certain roads and flyovers have only added to the mess.

To add to the congestion, road blocks in the cantonment area by security forces and police have worsened the situation.

Last year, the government announced reconstructing the Ring Road in phases to avoid disturbing the flow of traffic. The Arbab Sikandar Khan Khalil flyover at Gulbahar was built, while the Mufti Mehmood flyover near the provincial assembly building is under construction. Incomplete structures have led to severe bottlenecks near the flyovers and worsened traffic jams.

In 2009, the Peshawar Development Authority (PDA) devised a comprehensive plan for constructing 15 flyovers and underpasses to reduce traffic congestion. Projects were prioritised based on a survey in terms of the traffic passing through these roads. It was estimated that more than 235,000 vehicles pass through the Rehman Baba intersection and Bacha Khan Chowk flyover in 24 hours.

The Hayatabad Phase III intersection is the second busiest, followed by the Gulbahar, Speen Jumat, Iqra & Islamia College chowk flyovers. These plans, however, remained on paper because the provincial government did not allocate funds for these mega projects.

When the decision to go ahead was finally taken in 2011, the PDA list was entirely ignored. The construction of Gulbahar flyover, which was later renamed as Arbab Sikandar Khan Khalil flyover, costing Rs670 million, was initiated in June 2011. This project ranked number three on the PDA’s list. The Mufti Mehmood Flyover, which topped the list costing Rs1.7 billion, started second two months later in August and will take 28 months to complete.

Construction of the Sikandar Khan flyover ended in August this year ahead of the announced date of completion.

The slow pace of construction on the Ring Road, however, has produced traffic jams. Work in process on the Grand Trunk (GT) Road has also left commuters stranded.

The Peshawar Cantonment, a shortcut between the city, University Road and Saddar, is a no-go area as most of its roads are permanently closed by the security forces. It is heavily fortified and people avoid going through it despite the improvement in law and order.

Increasing vehicles and population

Official figures of the excise department show that 706,590 vehicles are registered in the province. The exact figures cannot be determined, however, because most people prefer to register their vehicles in Islamabad. Vehicles that are registered in districts across the province are also driven in Peshawar.

The influx of the internally displaced persons has also led to a sharp increase in the city’s inhabitants.

A senior traffic police official said that many roads in Peshawar actually disturb the flow of traffic. “Concrete blocks in front of every government office, police station and even mosques and other religious buildings are a real problem, not to mention the security checkpoints,” he said.

Blaming the traffic police is not correct, he added. “Last year, three traffic SPs were transferred and we need long term postings of committed officers,” he said. “If a traffic SP remains on the post for six months, it is considered lengthy.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 8^th, 2012.