A view of the road leading to Murree. PHOTO: SEHRISH WASIF
No sooner than you leave the neatly-lined roads of Islamabad for Murree, chaotic scenes begin upon entering the locality called Bhara Kahu. Potholed roads with haphazard traffic must be negotiated before the calm that Murree Expressway offers. It is an unbecoming prelude to the magnificence of the Murree Hills.
Bhara Kahu, despite being a well-established suburb of Islamabad, still lacks the requisite civic infrastructure.
Most of its 100,000 inhabitants silently suffer. Some grumble, others reason out the lack or absence of natural gas, water, roads and sanitation and healthcare facilities.
“This is not F-10 where the authorities will focus and invest,” said Haji Abdul Rauf, a resident of Shah Pur.
Natural gas and water supply are unknown to a majority of residents, and they have little hope of being provided such facilities in the near future.
Health (needs) care
There is just only one healthcare facility in the area, and even that is in a shambles. The rural health centre (RHC) does not have sufficient staff or medicines.
According to an RHC official who wished not to be named, daily patient flow has come down from 500 to 200 due to poor service delivery.
Regarding diseases, he said every week, four to five people are diagnosed with hepatitis B or C, which the official blamed on poor sanitation infrastructure and almost non-existent garbage collection in the area.
Of education
There are a total of 79 government schools for boys and girls where 21,000 students are currently enrolled. However, 311 teachers’ posts are lying vacant in these schools.
“Now we have students, but no teachers,” said Bhara Kahu Area Education Officer (AEO) Bashir Ahmad Arain.
He said there is a need to upgrade the educational infrastructure. “The biggest challenge is the lack of resources.”
Streets ahead
Much of Bhara Kahu has unpaved roads and streets.
Meanwhile, encroachments and double parking on Simly Dam Road near Athal Chowk results in massive traffic jams.
“There is a need to construct an overhead bridge and a proper bus stand to avoid massive traffic jams on Murree Road,” said Mohammad Arshad, a shopkeeper at Athal Chowk.
The member national assembly (MNA) from the area, Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said, “Twenty-year-old issues cannot be resolved in ten days.” Fazal has been the area MNA since 2008.
He said development work is in progress and it will take another one to two years to upgrade everything.
Chaudhry said two roads have already been constructed in Nai Abadi and at Jillani Road at a cost of Rs30 million.
According to the MNA, a huge parking plaza will be established at the Simly Dam Road to resolve the parking issue, besides collaboration with the Capital Development Authority to provision safe drinking water in residential areas.
“In the next financial year, allocations will be made for upgrading the capital’s suburbs,” he said.
Islamabad Chief Commissioner Jawad Paul informed that Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) has submitted a three-year rural uplift plan worth Rs5.6 billion which awaits approval. “This plan covers roads, sanitation and health facilities,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 23rd, 2014.
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