Embarrassing condition: Welcome to Islamabad, don’t mind the potholes

Airport Road is the route for anyone leaving the airport, but repairs unlikely till next budget.

ISLAMABAD:

It is a road much travelled by. Foreign heads of states and dignitaries — official guests of the Pakistani state — cruise over it in their motorcades as they are led to the heart of Pakistan’s federal capital. The country’s ruling elite and elected representatives use it during their time in office, their luxury cars often speeding and bobbing over the road’s increasingly uneven surface, with police escorts in tow.

More importantly though, numerous ordinary residents of the twin cities — schoolteachers, civil servants, white-collar workers and labourers — travel on this very road every single day in vehicles that are as varied as the paychecks of people who use them.



Airport Road, which originates in Rawalpindi, connects Benazir Bhutto International Airport and adjoining residential areas of Rawalpindi to Islamabad through the Islamabad Expressway at Koral Chowk.

It is no stranger to heavy traffic, and the signs of traffic fatigue are beginning to show on the road’s deteriorating surface.

Traffic congestion is not a major issue on Airport Road, except when the road is cordoned off for VIP movement. But the two-way road is pockmarked with potholes, which appear to be especially brutal along a two-kilometre stretch between the Rawalpindi Flying Club & School building and the entry to Gulzar-e Quaid.



“It is a disgrace that this road which is used by locals and also foreign guests is in such terrible condition,” said Muhammad Arshad, a taxi driver from the Chaklala area.

Arshad said the traffic load on the road warrants regular re-carpeting and repair. The road is still usable, he said, but there are portions that need the immediate attention of maintenance staff.



The part of the road that leads up to the Dhoke Hafiz traffic signal is worst hit. There, the left- lane is essentially a series of potholes. Van drivers, who try to beat the morning rush hour traffic, often use the left lane to move quickly to the Dhoke Hafiz bus stop.

“The van shakes violently when drivers move over to the broken part of the road,” said Akhtar Hussain, a civil servant who commutes to work on the Route 21 van. “It is even worse than driving on dirt roads in villages.”

Technically, the road is part of Rawalpindi. But, according to Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) Chief Executive Officer Rana Manzoor, the road is outside the cantonment area and is not the responsibility of Rawalpindi city authorities.

“The road was built by the Capital Development Authority (CDA), and maintenance is the CDA’s responsibility,” Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) Director Umar Farooq told The Express Tribune.

CDA spokesperson Malik Saleem accepted that the civic agency must look after the road’s repair and maintenance. However, Saleem said the CDA had exhausted its available road repair funds and Airport Road’s maintenance must wait for the next annual cycle to commence.

“CDA Chairman Tahir Shahbaz has ordered the authority’s officials to conduct a proper survey and cost estimation of major roads and avenues that require maintenance so the agency can allocate funds for them in the 2013-14 budget,” he said.

Meanwhile, regular drivers have gotten used to the road’s driving difficulty level.

Raja Khalid, a cab driver from the Shah Khalid colony area, said he frequently uses the road and has learnt how to avoid the craters. He admitted that navigation might be difficult for unfamiliar drivers.

“Drivers often move fast on this road because there are only two signals,” Khalid said. “At high speeds, it becomes difficult for drivers who are new to the road to navigate the potholes.”

The CDA’s new budget will be approved this month, but the agency has struggled in the past to deliver on development and repair work due to shortages of funds and challenges in revenue generation. For now, locals and foreigners will continue to have a bumpy ride on the Airport Road.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 2^nd, 2013.