Motorists put their lives at great risks as they pass through this badly tattered bridge on the Nara Canal which may lead to tragedy any time.—PPI

SUKKUR Townspeople have to undergo a great deal of frustration each day when they snake their way through heaps of earth and gravel lying on the dug-up roads as work on mega projects for roads, water supply and drainage inches ahead at a snail`s pace.

Despite tall claims by the district administration cattle pens, big motor and denting workshops have not been shifted out of the city to make the roads wider and avert traffic jams, which has almost crippled city life.

Though the government has released funds of Rs500 million for constructing roads and Rs474 million for mega projects of water supply and drainage not a single project has been completed despite a lapse of more than three years.

People blame elected representatives and nazims for the deteriorating conditions. The most affected areas of the city are, Military road, Minara road, Old Sukkur, Golimar road, Qureshi road, Baban Shah Colony, Barrage road, Workshop road, Queen`s road, Wallace road and Bunder road where the Public Health Engineering Department has left the roads dug-up for three years for laying water supply and drainage lines.

Besides, some of the newly-constructed roads including, Shalimar road, Jail road and Old Sukkur road failed to withstand their first rains recently and washed away, apparently due to use of substandard material.

Sources said that contractors were forced to give 60 per cent of total project cost as commission and use the rest on development works hence contractors were compelled to use substandard material.

The second biggest problem of the city is hundreds of cattle pens, which cause traffic on the roads to come to a complete halt when thousands of buffaloes take to the roads in the morning and saunter towards the River Indus.

Schoolgoing children and people, who are in a rush to reach their workplaces, suffer most by such road blockades.

The exercise is repeated in the afternoon when the herds of buffaloes return to their respective cattle pens, once again leading to traffic jams.

The district government has spent millions of rupees on the construction of cattle colony outside the city and also distributed allotment orders to the cattle pen owners but neither side is ready to fix the problem.

The cattle pen owners are not ready to shift to cattle colony and the district administration is taking serious steps to implement its orders.

Despite huge expenditure on main water works, people are still getting contaminated water, which is spreading stomach ailments and hepatitis.

The taluka nazim of the city faces criticism not only from the members of rival group but also from his supporters due to poor performance while District Nazim Syed Nasir Hussain Shah always put the blame on the Public Health Engineering Department for causing delay in completion of mega projects, which were supposed to be completed a year back.

Sources in the department blamed ill-planning by the department for wastage of half of the funds of mega projects and slow pace of work, which would take two more years to complete.

Under the city`s building bylaws approved by the taluka council of city, no builder can construct commercial and residential plaza beyond ground plus four storeys but the builder mafia, which enjoys support of influential political persons, are busy in constructing high-rise buildings, without getting approval of building plan.

A five storey residential plaza had collapsed on Hussain road in December 2008, which was originally ground plus two but later the taluka nazim city gave permission for raising three more storeys. As a result, the building collapsed and seven innocent lives were lost.

Leaders of different political and social parties, trade bodies and civil society, including Moulana Abdul Haq Mahar of JUI, Nazir Ahmed of JSQM, Shahzado Bhutto of SNF, Abdul Razzaq Aasi of PML-N, Haroon Memon of Sukkur Small Traders and others held elected representatives and district and taluka nazims responsible for the present situation.