Road project puts many buildings at risk

TAXILA, March 6: Reconstruction of Taxila-Hattar Road has put many private and public buildings at stake as the road would become higher than the foundation level of these buildings making them vulnerable to flood-like situation in case of heavy rains.

It has been observed that the contractor of the Rs107 million project is raising the road level by 5 inches rendering many houses, two government schools, TMA complex, judicial complex, mission hospital and veterinary hospital below the road.

Some of the old buildings like mission hospital are already below the road and its further upraising would create problems as the rain water in the absence of proper drainage system would inundate them. A large number of the affected residents and shopkeepers while talking to this reporter said their properties worth millions of rupees would become priceless. They said during monsoon season, rain water flowed over two feet of the road as the drainage lines on the sides of the road remained choked because the sanitation staff never bothered to clean them.

Malik Naseem Haider, a social figure, has said many public sector buildings like tehsil municipal complex and judicial complex are already below the existing Taxila-Hattar Road and during rainy season, water gets accumulated in these buildings and if the road level is increased further, it would cause serious damages to the buildings.

When contacted, Tehsil Municipal Officer (TMO) Khalid Khan said that the project was being executed by Punjab Highway Department. He said public concerns had already been conveyed to the relevant authorities and it was up to them to redress the public grievances.

In the regard, on contact, SDO Punjab Highway Department Ali Nawaz Khan dispelled the impression that the road was being poorly planned. He said a special team of provincial highway department comprising experts in road engineering visited the site and approved the
plan after proper study. He said the department was also increasing the level of footpaths and improving the drainage system. He said when the drainage system was improved; there would be no danger of accumulation of rain water on the road.