On crowded streets

All roads passing through Rawalpindi and Islamabad are overcrowded with bumper to bumper traffic during the morning and evening peak hours. With every passing day, the traffic is getting worse. The authorities concerned need to construct overhead bridges and bypass to ease congestion and improve traffic flow. Even if work is started on the Rawalpindi bypass today, it will take at least two years to complete considering the speed at which work is carried out in our country. It is ironic that the Rawalpindi bypass which was planned by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in the mid-1970s has still not been built.

Cities smaller than Rawalpindi have bypass. It is hoped that both the federal and Punjab governments will sit down and take a decision to build the bypass on a priority basis. If the government does not have sufficient budget, it can always get this road built on the Build, Own and Transfer (BOT) basis.

Syed Hussein El-Edroos

Islamabad