rawalpindi
The road left in semi-dug up positions outside Pir Mehar Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University (PMAS-AAUR), Government College for Women Shamasabad and Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) are giving tough time to students, patients and attendants.
Several people have sustained injuries and fractures after falling into ditches so far but authorities have turned a blind eye towards the woes of common people. These roads were dug up in connection with Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metro Bus Service (MBS) project by the contractors and were not filled up, posing threats to the students and other pedestrians. The slow pace of construction work on MBS project has been irking the pedestrians, students as well as patients and their attendants visiting BBR for healthcare facilities. The roads outside the university, college and hospital are lying in dismal state. Ditches of various radii have been dug up but not filled despite passing several months, which has made life miserable in the areas.
A large number of PMAS-AAUR students, both male and female, while talking to The Nation on Monday said that the road outside university was dug up several months ago and it was still not filled, while construction of MBS project and roads was also going on at snail’s pace on Benazir Bhutto Road. They said that a small bridge was made on a big ditch in order to provide students a way to enter the university. They said that even drizzle makes the mud bridge slippery. They demanded of the authorities concerned to complete construction work on the project as soon as possible.
Amir Khan, a BS IT student, said, “The students face immense troubles while crossing these ditches.” He added that a female student got injured after falling into a ditch dug up outside PMAS-AAUR. The situation was also miserable outside children OPD of BB Hospital where huge-sized ditches have been irking patients and their attendants.
A vendor, who sells fruits near the hospital gate, said that he has witnessed seven incidents where the people fell into the ditched during the past few days. “A family including two children slipped and fell into the ditch while going to the hospital. The family members sustained critical injuries and were shifted to hospital for medical treatment,” he added.
Shamsa Bibi, mother of three-year-old Ibrahim, told this scribe that her son was suffering from abdominal problem and she had arrived BBH to get her examined from some doctor. She said that she faced a lot of problem while crossing the big-sized ditch in order to reach hospital. Authorities have blocked BBR by erecting barricades and left no other way to reach hospital for the people coming from Rawal Road, she said.
Zahid Saeed, commissioner Rawalpindi and chief coordinator MBS project, did not respond to phone calls made by this scribe to get his point of view on the issue.