Construction of Main Boulevard Defence Road, main artery of DHA Lahore, that was once a nuisance to residents has been completed and opened for traffic. Carpeting of road is still unfinished and it is hoped that work will be accomplished in one or two days. People have heaved a sigh of relief on the completion of development work.
Initially work was a real mess due to lack of planning, mismanagement, haphazardness and non-cooperative attitude with the residents.
DHA Lahore administration had started road development work on the Main Boulevard Defence Road without displaying traffic diversion plans. As no basic vision was observed in the work, traffic load of Main Boulevard Defence road had been transferred to streets of almost all phases.
Lack of a plan led to the formation of different bottlenecks and gridlocks all over Defence, to the discomfort of the citizen. Besides, noise and air pollution had also racked up due to traffic jams in the streets.
DHA Resident Association office bearer told Pakistan Today that thousands of people residing in the prime housing society had been deeply upset on the chaotic rehabilitation work at Main Boulevard Defence Road. “Since the work started, road had been dug-up in unruly way and mounds of excavated earth were piled up along the road. Clouds of dust were often hanging in air and with windstorm, the dust not only created invisibility but also became unbearable to road users,” he added.
Jamshaid Butt, resident of Phase 1 said that recently when downpour lashed out at the city, some patches had been turned into a slippery swamp.
“Worst concern was that we were not informed in advance about the pace of work. We remained perturbed and kept guessing about the abrupt construction work,” he complained. “It took a while for the people to readjust their travelling route to avoid the main boulevard,” Bashir Cheema, a resident of Phase 2 said, adding that many had cursed the administration for its ill planning.
Lahore DHA senior official seeking anonymity revealed that Main Boulevard Defence Road was in ramshackle with cracks and pitfalls everywhere and it reconstruction was direly needed. “Construction work had been completed in record time,” he said.
“We wanted to start work soon but Walton Cantonment Board, the collector of revenue tax in DHA, delayed in delivery of funds,” he said
About not putting up traffic diversion plan, he answered that traffic police did not cooperate with administration and gave a blunt gesture saying “this was none of our business.”
What was once a nuisance
