GUJRAT: The district administration has banned entry of heavy traffic to the 2km portion of the Jalalpur Jattan Road, leading to the University of Gujrat (UoG).

The ban has been imposed after the deterioration of the road whose concrete slabs have already been damaged at various locations.

The civil society has been expressing apprehensions of a fatal accident of a heavy vehicle such as the busses of the UoG as well as private transport, trucks and heavy trailers that ply on the damaged portions of the road.

The civic authorities and roads department had repaired some portions of the road with sand and mud on its both sides but the temporary arrangement has again been damaged in the recent rains.

DC bans vehicles on collapsed portion from Kutchery Chowk to Boley Bridge

The road is damaged at least seven points from Kutchery Chowk to Boley Bridge due to leakage in the sewerage; however, laying of storm water pipeline in the last couple of years by digging of road on both sides further damaged the already affected road that has become hollow underneath the concrete slabs.

Deputy Commissioner Safdar Virk, through an order issued here on Thursday, imposed the ban on entrance of heavy vehicles between the Kutchery Chowk and Boley Bridge along Jalalpur Jattan Road with immediate effect.

The order said the decision had been made after consultation with the authorities in the Gujrat Municipal Corporation and public health and engineering department.

Official sources say the local authorities are afraid of repairing the damaged portions to avoid any further loss to the road that actually needs rebuilding and huge funds are required for the purpose. And it’s hard to get funds approved in the caretaker set-up in Punjab.

The local traders, management of educational institutions located along the road, students and parents have been demanding the rehabilitation of the road since long but to no avail.

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2023