Accidents rising on Hazara Expressway for lack of fencing

By Our Correspondent
August 05, 2020

MANSEHRA: As many as five people were killed and many others sustained critical injuries in accidents on the newly-opened Mansehra-Thakot section of Hazara Expressway as National Highway Authority is yet to complete fencing around it.

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“Travelling from Mansehra to Shinkiari I have witnessed the ugly scenes as residents including children settled around the track come to the newly-inaugurated section of Hazara Expressway as this important artery is still without side fencing and barbed wires,” Mohammad Jibran, a motorist, told reporters on Tuesday.

Chief Minister Mahmood Khan had inaugurated the expressway last week. The traffic on that important artery was opened formally to avoid traffic jams on the Karakoram Highway on the occasion of Eidul Azha. Since the opening of this section of Hazara Expressway, according to data obtained by various police stations, over a dozen road incidents had occurred on that artery, leaving at least five people dead and many others seriously injured.

“I have witnessed that motorcyclists are also moving freely on both sides of the track but I couldn’t see traffic wardens except at Barari Tunnel, who could stop them,” said Jibran. He said that NHA had fixed a high speed of 60 km/hour for vehicles crossing the longest 2.3km tunnel near Mansehra but motorists were rash in driving not only putting their lives in danger but also that of others using the tunnel.

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