Notices have been sent to the finance division secretary, chairman of motorway and highway authority, Peshawar Development Authority (PDA) director general and secretary of the Communication and Works (C&W) department to explain why court orders on the case were not complied with.
A PHC division bench comprising Chief Justice (CJ) Dost Muhammad Khan and Justice Khalid Mehmood issued the notices on Wednesday while hearing a writ petition filed by Advocate Issa Khan. In his petition, Khan said that barricades set up by law enforcing agencies in the provincial capital were baring the public from using roads in the Cantonment area.
The petitioner added that a number of roads leading to Cantt have been blocked, which creates problems for commuters, especially students.
During the hearing, National Highway Authority’s (NHA) Attorney Sikandar Rasheed submitted a copy of the bypass’ completion schedule before the court.
Commenting on the document, the bench said that negligible funds were allocated for the project despite court orders on September 15, 2010 to expedite the process and complete the bypass.
Ambulances and rescue vehicles carrying injured victims of bomb blasts and other unfortunate incidents get stuck in traffic jams, but the authorities are least bothered about this, the CJ said, adding that the federal and provincial governments were not fulfilling their duties.
On September 1 last year, the PHC served notices to NHA officials and the project director for the Northern Bypass after they failed to construct the bypass despite their commitment before the court that the project would be completed within four months.
The court had observed that the construction of the bypass would reduce traffic congestion on the main Grand Trunk Road.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 31st, 2013.
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