Residents Demand Repair Of Broken City Roads

RAWALPINDI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Jun, 2023 ) :The residents of several city areas have demanded the authorities concerned to pay attention on urgent repairs of broken roads which are not only causing traffic jams but also endanger public safety.

According to the citizens, several city and cantonment roads are giving a nightmare look for the residents as these have not been repaired and re-carpeted for the past many years and travelling on these dilapidated roads has been causing inconvenience for the motorists. Several roads have developed potholes and causing hazards for commuters.

The broken roads included Kashmir Road, Range Road, Allahabad Road, Tench Bhatta Road, Chor to Masrial Road, Tippu Road, Zakria Masjid Road, Transit Camp Road, Dhoke Ratta, Workshop Road, Marrir Chowk Road, PAF Chowk to Committee Chowk Road, Bostan Khan Road, Westridge Bazaar Road, Gawalmandi Road, Farooq-i-Azam Road, Sadiqabad and Rehmanabad Roads, Railway Road, Dehri Hassanabad and several other roads.

In last two years, Municipal Corporation did not launch any major uplift project while Rawalpindi Cantonment board paid attention to some areas and left several others neglected.

The roads from Marrir Chowk to Gawalmandi, Westridge Bazaar to Allahabad, Kashmir Road and others have developed ditches. The residents of the downtown are disturbed over the situation and have demanded of the provincial government to fulfill its promise of launching public welfare projects.

"I daily travel on Gawalmandi Road to Saddar and my vehicle has developed faults due to the broken road. Will the authorities concerned compensate us if our vehicle gets damaged due to the broken roads," said Altaf, a resident of Gawalmandi.

Najam of Allahabad said his motorcycle developed faults due to the potholes on Allahabad Road and it was difficult for middle class people to spend heavy amounts on repair of their vehicles.

Sajid Khan, a resident of Kashmiri Bazaar said that residents of the area had been facing problems due to the bad condition of several city roads.

Travel on the roads is time and fuel consuming, he added.

Open manholes in several city areas are also endangering the lives of the motorists and pedestrian alike, he added.

During a visit to the city, this reporter found open manholes and the drain covers were also missing in Chandni Chowk, Rehmanabad, Sadiqabad, Kuri Road, Iqbal Road, Circular Road, Banni Chowk and in several other areas.

The residents said they had lodged complaints with the authorities concerned about the problem but the departments paid no heed to it.

Sajid, a resident of Chandni Chowk area, said he fell in a ditch few days back during electricity loadshedding hours at around 11pm while coming back from his office.

He said one of his legs was injured and some passersby shifted him to nearby hospital for medical treatment.

"My wife narrowly escaped felling down in the drain while going to the market," said Asif, a resident of Rehmanabad adding, at several places, many slabs over the drains are missing exposing pedestrians to imminent danger.

The state of the streets has been bad for a long time and they have no option but to endure bumpy rides whenever they come out of their localities.

Open manholes in many areas are inviting any untoward incident as anyone can easily fall into it. The level of the open drain and the road is almost the same. After dark, it becomes a more serious issue for the residents.

The citizens appealed to the civic bodies to repair the broken roads and make the open drain properly covered.

The monsoon comes with many challenges as the situation of streets in several city areas becomes worse and the water inside the potholes makes it more difficult for the commuters to discover the depth of the potholes.

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