One particular issue that the authorities rarely focus on is the bad conditions of roads across the country. 75% of areas of Karachi and many other cities of Pakistan have poor and broken roads. It is a great issue to discuss and solve it in a proper manner because roads are the basic way of communication intra-city as well as inter-cities. Roads connect people; they make the most extensive network of transportation in the country. So the point is if our roads are not quality roads, then people will face difficulty in using the means of communication and performing their daily life chores.
It is not wrong to say that the authorities responsible for the maintenance of roads in cities of the country are lethargic. Even though people pay toll taxes that the authorities collect for the maintenance of the roads and highways, the poor quality of roads is not excusable. Moreover, the numbers of damaged roads are increasing day by day. As if that is not enough, people have illegally encroached tracts of government lands that make roads shrink.
So the question that needs to be asked from the authorities is if they have any plan for making the roads better when both population and traffic in the cities are growing on an unprecedented scale. The local officials in Karachi can take the lead in solving the issue by focusing on mending the badly damaged road of Karachi Saddar.
So I requested the government officials and especially our beloved Prime Minister Mr Imran Khan to look into the matter. He can direct the local officials through an executive order to take prompt action in this regard so that the common man faces no hurdles using this source of communication. Also, the local officials need to initiate an anti-encroachment drive against those who have shrunk the roads of the city to make money for themselves.
M. HASSAN NAEEM,
Karachi.