March 24, 2008	Monday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 15, 1429

GUJRANWALA, March 23: The residents of Ghakkhar town have expressed concern over the defective construction of a drain and manholes along the GT Road service lane which have become death traps for pedestrians.

Some residents of town alleged that an aide of former provincial transport minister Rana Shamshad Ahmed Khan who was awarded the contract for toll tax collection on the GT Road by National Highway Department some two years ago was responsible for the construction of the drain and manholes.

They said as the construction work was of poor quality, the drain and the manholes soon collapsed at many places, resulting in several accidents in which around two dozen pedestrians got injured.

They demanded that the contract be suspended till the repairs of drain and manholes to avoid any fatal accident.

GCCI: The Gujranwala Chamber of Commerce and Industry has proposed to the city district government that the flyover which was constructed by the PPP government in 1972 be demolished and replaced with a T-type structure to reduce the traffic pressure on the GT Road.

Speaking at a meeting held here on Sunday, chamber president Riaz Mehmood Bajwa and other office-bearers said the existing flyover had completed its life and now it could not sustain the load of the growing volume of traffic.

They demanded that all city roads be widened after removal of encroachments on them for smooth flow of traffic.