Bumpy road, broken promises

Sir: About 20,000 students daily take a bumpy ride to the University of Gujrat (UoG) and brave their way home in the evening on a two-kilometre access road that has not been maintained for several years. About 90 university buses ply this route! apart from the local traffic to nearby towns and villages. MNA Mian Hamza Shahbaz visited the university twice. On both occasions, he promised that a modern dual carriageway would replace the existing access road. But he failed to keep his promises.
Earlier this week, a few senior journalists paid a visit to the UoG and highlighted the issue in the media. It raised hopes among thousands of university students, employees and others who daily use this road that a new road will soon be constructed, but no action has been taken by the concerned authorities in this regard, The access road is not only peppered with potholes, there are also little gravel stones that suddenly appear out of nowhere. The road has not been repaired or carpeted since it was constructed in 2006. The local administration proposed the construction of a dual carriageway to replace the existing access road in April 2007. In this regard, a meeting was held on May 23 in 2011 at the Commissioner’s Office in Gujranwala. A proposal for the acquisition of land was also approved at the meeting.
In July 2011, the DCO Gujrat received orders for the acquisition of land and maintenance. An estimate for the project was also made and forwarded to the concerned officials. The local administration on October 3, 2013 wrote a letter to the Special Secretary to Chief Minister, Barrister Nabeel Awan, reminding him of the promises. Soon a directive was issued by the chief minister’s office for the construction of a two-track road. On April 10, 2014, an official concerned worked out the estimated cost of the road to be Rs 202 million. However, the construction never began. In May 2014, another reminder was sent to Nabeel Awan, but to no effect.
Furthermore, the construction of the dual carriageway was also included in the Annual Development Programme 2014-15 with an allocation of Rs 50 million. The Communications and Works Department moved the summary only to be told after six months that only roads with a traffic load of 8,000 vehicles per day can be converted into dual carriageways.
In a recent development, a new shift in policy has put the road back on ‘single track’. The two-track road which was earlier approved and whose cost was put at Rs 202 million, including the cost of land acquisition, will now cost Rs198 million sans one track.
There is not much reason to be optimistic. The situation remains hopeless for thousands of the university students who often ask the question: who is going to build the road? The short answer is: nobody knows.
SHEIKH ABDUL RASHID
Director Media and Publications
University of Gujrat