RAWALPINDI: Work to repair the damaged bridge over the railway track at Transit Camp that connects the city and cantonment areas has started but after the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly (PA) the project faces uncertainty.

The work has been started on a grant-in-aid from the Punjab government and Pakistan Railways and Cantonment Board are helping in repairing the bridge and the road.

A district administration official said funds had been released for the project and work on it would not be stopped.

Digging at the site had been carried out at the site a few weeks ago and the road users were facing problems, especially motorists coming from Westridge, Bakery Chowk and adjoining areas towards Saddar.

Funds released, work on project won’t stop even after PA’s dissolution, says official

The railway employees residing in Railway Colony near Bakery Chowk said they also faced hardship to reach their workplace.

“It is difficult to drive a motorcycle on the road from Transit Camp to the railway station in the early morning and late night,” said an employee of Pakistan Railways.

Another railway employee said it was difficult for people to use the road. He said the administration should complete the reconstruction of the road as soon as possible as the total length of the road was not more than two or three kilometres.

When contacted, Pakistan Railways Divisional Superintendent Inamullah told Dawn that work on the road from the railway station to Transit Camp had been started along with repair of the bridge.

He said there was a dire need for the repair of the bridge and reconstruction of the road. However, he said, after repair of the bridge and reconstruction of the road the cantonment board and city administration should close it for heavy traffic. Only light traffic would be allowed to use the bridge, he added.

He said if heavy vehicles were banned, the bridge could be used for the next 25 years.

It may be mentioned that Pakistan Railways closed the dilapidated bridge over its main track between Rawalpindi and Peshawar last year after the district administration and the cantonment authorities failed to repair it.

The bridge was declared dangerous by railway authorities in September after its dyke wall collapsed. Due to closure of the bridge, people have been facing hardship as they have to take a long detour to enter the cantonment areas especially reach Peshawar Road.

The railway track is the dividing line between the city and cantonment areas and bridges over the track are used by commuters travelling between city and cantonment areas.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2023