ISLAMABAD: Despite its attempts to introduce legislation in the upper house of parliament, the caretaker federal government has refused to give an official name to the Bhara Kahu bypass, saying the task should be left to the elected government, which would take the reins of the country after Feb 8 polls.

Initially, it was proposed that the bypass should be named after a Polish commodore Wladyslaw Turowics, who helped build the Pakistan Air Force as well as Pakistan’s space programme. The caretaker government, however, refused to intervene in this trivial matter and left it to the elected government.

The multi-billion Bhara Kahu bypass was completed in July last year, and it has not been named as of yet. Sources said that a two-tier approval is required to give names to roads in the capital, interchanges, and government buildings. After the CDA, the federal cabinet gives the go-ahead.

In October last year, the CDA board approved the summary which was subsequently forwarded to the Cabinet Division for approval, but it was returned with a direction that this issue should be taken up with the elected government. The Cabinet Division returned the summary to the CDA and asked it “to submit the same to the elected government”, as per a CDA document.

Civic agency proposed naming bypass after late Polish commodore Wladyslaw Turowics

Name saga

Before attempting to rename the Bhara Kahu bypass, the CDA had proposed naming a road after the Polish commodore in Sector I-15. Later, it transpired that the said road had already been named after another personality. The CDA board rectified its mistake in the next meeting it was decided that the bypass would be named after the late officer.

In 2022, the foreign ministry had written a letter to the CDA, asking it to name a road after Wladyslaw Turowicz but the civic authority did not do so.

According to CDA officials, “Poland and Pakistan enjoy cordial relations and one of the major contributing factors in this regard was the services rendered by Polish Air Force officials who rejuvenated Pakistan Air Force in the early 50s.”

The CDA’s document said the late Polish official along with a group of 30 air force personnel joined the PAF in the early 50s. He worked with “extreme commitment and rendered valuable contributions to lay the foundation of the Pakistan Air Force in its early years”. After the completion of his initial contract, Mr Turowicz opted to stay in Pakistan and continued to serve the PAF.

In 1966, the Pakistani government transferred him to Suparco as its chief scientist and eventually appointed him as its head in 1967. As Suparco’s head, he initiated the space programme, upgraded the Sonmiani satellite (rocket launch site in Balochistan) and designed short and medium-range ballistic missiles. His spouse, Zofia Turowicz imparted gliding techniques to Shaheen air cadets in Karachi and Rawalpindi.

It is relevant to note here that Islamabad’s main roads are named after famous personalities. At least four roads in the capital had been named after the heads of foreign states. For instance, Faisal Avenue was named after the late Saudi king Shah Faisal and Attaturk Avenue after Turkey’s Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Two other roads in the capital are named after Chinese leader Zhou Enlai and former Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser.

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2024