RAWALPINDI, Oct 31: Despite the presence of an overhead bridge on Benazir Bhutto Road near Benazir Bhutto Hospital, people prefer to cross this busiest road through the broken railing, putting their lives at risk.

The local administration had erected the railings on the median of the road from Naz Cinema to Chandni Chowk to encourage people to use the overhead bridge. But these railings are lying broken from a number of points for the last three months, but the Rawal Town Municipal Administration (RTMA) has yet not repaired them.

Even motorcyclists don't hesitate to use these broken fences, not only endangering their lives but also hampering the smooth flow of traffic.

The residents of the area told Dawn that several pedestrians have been run over by speeding vehicles while crossing the road.

The matter has been reported to the RTMA many a time in the past but to no avail. The RTMA's apathy has led to a sharp surge in road mishaps over the last three months.

The residents alleged that chemist shops owners had damaged the railings in front of Benazir Bhutto Hospital for the convenience of patients or their attendants. They said some shop owners cut the railing to provide easy access to their customers.

However, Mohammad Sultan, a shop owner, claimed that they had nothing to do with this, adding that it were the pedestrians themselves who had damaged the railings.

When this reporter asked people as to why they crossed the road and didn't use the pedestrian bridge, they had many reasons for preferring to cross the road through the broken railings.

Faheem Anwar, an attendant of a patient at Benazir Bhutto Hospital, said he did not use the pedestrian bridge as it was located far from the chemists' shops.

Using the bridge and crossing the stairs was not an easy job for Seema Begum, a 60 years old woman. Her daughter-in-law said she could not climb the staircase of the pedestrian bridge.

She also pointed out that the pedestrian bridge erected over Benazir Bhutto Road was not for aged people and was not disabled people friendly.

She said the government should build bridges keeping in mind the old and handicapped people.

She called for removing fences on the medians and deploying traffic policemen instead to help the old and disabled people to cross the road.

Sarmad Raja, a resident of Asghar Mall Road, said broken railings encouraged people especially women, children and elderly people to use them to cross the roads instead of overhead pedestrian bridge.

When contacted, Town Municipal Officer (TMO) Shahzad Haider said the Rawal Town Municipal Administration (RTMA) had no plans to repair the broken fences, as it was not the responsibility of the administration. He said either the Punjab Highway Department or Rawalpindi Development Authority were responsible to carry out repair and maintenance work on Benazir Bhutto Road.

When his attention was drawn to the repair work done by the RTMA last year during the visit of Punjab chief minister, he said: “If we were asked to repair the fencing then we would do it." He said there was confusion about the repair and maintenance work on Benazir Bhutto Road and it should be decided once for all. He said people should use the pedestrian bridge and “they should stop endangering their lives”.