Bumpy thoroughfare: Potholes make traversing IJP Road a nightmare

Rawalpindi authorities blame CDA for garbage dumps along the main road

RAWALPINDI: With construction work in progress on Benazir Bhutto Road and Kashmir Highway, the IJ Principal Road is reeling under heavy traffic load.

Islamabad Expressway and IJP Road witness heavy traffic from the Lahore-Peshawar GT Road. But while the expressway has seen expansions and up-gradations, IJP Road has long been denied repairs and expansion. The road has potholes and patches of uneven surface at several points.

The road also does not have streetlights at some points which causes problems for motorists. PHOTO: MUHAMMAD JAVAID

According to the Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP), around 100,000 vehicles ply the road daily. Due to the poor road conditions, traffic snarls and accidents are a common site on the road. “We have to go to workshops every day to repair our vehicles. Potholes and uneven surface has become a constant source of nuisance for us,” said Mumtaz Jan, a driver.

The traffic police too find it difficult to regulate traffic due to the ‘mad’ rush. “Traffic moves slowly due to the dilapidated road condition which causes traffic jams making it difficult for us to regulate vehicle flow,” said a traffic warden deployed on the road.

After the start of the metro bus construction work, traffic from Double Road and Benazir Bhutto Road was diverted to IJP Road. This additional load worsened the situation.

“It takes us at least one and a half hour to reach Pirwadhai Mor from Faizabad, which is some nine kilometres away due to the traffic jams,” said Zafar Bukhari, a resident of Chor locality who works at Quaid-e-Azam University.



The road does not have streetlights at some points which causes problems for motorists at night.

Garbage dumps

Residents also complain about heaps of garbage along the road, which are a result of a dispute on whose responsibility it is to pick up the trash as the road marks the boundary between Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Rawalpindi authorities say the Capital Development Authority (CDA) is responsible to remove garbage along the highway.

A meeting headed by Punjab Minister for Labour and Manpower Raja Ashfaq Sarwar on Sunday also expressed concerns at what was described as CDA’s ‘inaction’ on the issue. A Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) official told The Express Tribune that RDA has requested its counterpart in the capital to remove garbage which has become a breeding site for mosquitoes. He said the issue had been raised with the CDA chairman several times but the civic agency did not take any action.



Sarwar also tasked Rawalpindi district coordination officer and district officer environment to visit the road, take pictures and prepare a report which would be presented to the prime minister.

The RDA official said the provincial minister and Rawalpindi commissioner have decided to take the issue to the prime minister due to CDA’s inaction despite repeated requests. “The garbage dump is a permanent breeding ground for mosquitoes and a source of dengue spread in Rawalpindi,” he said.

CDA spokesperson Asim Khichi said the authority would send teams to remove the garbage dump “if there was any”.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 10^th, 2014.