Shah Khalid Colony Bazaar road remains clogged

Although the entire Rawalpindi city is a persistent traffic nightmare, thanks to the fearless flouting of rules and the absence of a policy to decongest the areas, but Shah Khalid Colony Bazaar Road traffic slows to a snail’s pace causing a massive traffic jam. One can witness bumper-to-bumper traffic every day.

“A friend of mine who came to my house yesterday was surprised by the number of vehicles he saw on Shah Khalid Colony Bazaar road. He remained stuck for almost one hour in the traffic because two trucks coming from opposite directions had blocked the passage. Pedestrians look upon them as both a menace and a nuisance,” says Hamayat Ali.

“The number of big vehicles is growing daily, which means small vehicles can barely crawl on the road double-lined with the building material carrying trucks and carts. While the big vehicles get the lion’s share of the blame for freezing the Shah Khalid Colony Bazaar Road’s traffic during business hours, they are not alone in causing the mess. Bikers are also to blame,” says Husnain Kazmi.

“Randomly parked cars, unregulated entry of vehicles way beyond the carrying capacity of the road, and hundreds of visitors darting through the gaps in the traffic are all to blame. Area residents say the number of vehicles has shot up dramatically since the construction of the overhead railway bridge and the underpass at the end of the bazaar. As there are no footpaths the pedestrians also walk down the road,” says Sher Ali.

“With traffic conditions continuing to deteriorate in the colony, experts agree, what the locality needs, is a decongestion plan. However, the very idea seems visionary when several interventions by the city fathers to improve traffic flow have been undone by lack of implementation by the concerned department,” says Basit Hussain.

“Big vehicles like water tankers, trucks, dumpers and goods-carrying vans block nearly half of the path on both sides of the road, leaving little space for smaller vehicles to move. No solution is in sight to curb the increasing traffic. The traffic police do nothing to reduce it,” complains Adeem Raza Zaidi.

“Widespread commercialization of the surrounding areas is another vital factor behind the worsening traffic conditions. On the one hand, it brings in more and more visitors every day, and on the other, it destroys the original residential character of the neighbourhood, making the local traders move out. The vacated premises then become available to set up even more shops and plazas,” says Karamat Hussain.

Farhan Naqvi says, “Many traders don’t live in the colony. Therefore, they come on bikes or cars and park them on the road in a haphazard manner. Makeshift vendors also grab a part of the road, making the passing of vehicles difficult”.