- Engineers’ body shows concern over absence and poor maintenance of civic facilities in Capital
- Calls for improving water supply system, roads, footpaths in Islamabad
Institution of Engineers Pakistan (IEP) Rawalpindi-Islamabad chapter has expressed serious concern over poor maintenance of civic facilities including roads and footpaths in the federal Capital.
Talking to a group of journalists on Saturday, IEP- Rawalpindi-Islamabad chapter Chairman Engineer Hussain Ahmad Siddiqui asserted that the original design of the infrastructure has not been completed while maintenance condition of the civic network is poor, adding that this is resulting in traffic jams especially during peak hours.
Per reports, footpaths along the roads have not been built even in those sectors which were completed in the early phases whereas horizontal roads, the system of transition, horizontal and vertical curves is yet to be put in place.
Already constructed clover leaves at Faizabad, Zeropoint, Faisal Avenue as well as some other points do not have smooth flow of traffic because of non-existence of exit lanes, he said, adding that the blind corners and junctions need immediate improvement.
Engineer Siddiqui said that there is no proper system of maintenance of roads and footpaths, adding that the “gangs of road maintenance staff” is seldom seen repairing the potholes and there seems to be no arrangement of making bituminous material at the sector/sub-sector level for filling the potholes.
He said the milling machine obtained by Capital Development Authority (CDA) is hardly used to cut off or level the swollen roads, adding that the use of cold emulsion for repairing the roads seem to have been discarded.
Similarly, the introduction of tough tiles for footpaths was done so that the damaged portion could be replaced without disturbing other parts, he said.
“But no serious replacement effort is done in this regard, which is destroying the footpaths,” said Siddiqui.
He said that weighing bridges should be installed immediately so that overweight carriers damaging the roads can be checked.
The traffic survey on highways/main roads should be done after every five years so that the design capacity of the roads can be increased by improving or adding another layer of bituminous wearing course or sub-service layer with aggregates, he added.
The maintenance of government houses is also very poor as simple and minor faults are not being attended to.
The white-washing and other maintenance needs of these houses and government buildings are not being taken care of, giving the capital city an ugly look. Similar is the case of horticultural needs, he added.
He pointed out that the water supply to various sectors is not sufficient.
The water supply lines have been laid decades ago and their life is over-spent. More than 25 percent of water is lost through leakages, he said.
Engineer Hussain Ahmad Siddiqui said there is a dire need for exploring new sources of water supply.
“The construction of auxiliary spillway at Simly Dam has increased the water storage capacity but there is a potential of having another reservoir for storage on the up-stream side of the present dam in the catchment area.”
It has been observed during the rains that the nullah along the road leading to KhannaBridge gets over-flooded and even nearby streams overflow, he added.