THATTA, Feb 26: Commuters and passengers are facing problems in the coastal areas of Mirpur Bathoro, Sujawal, Jati and Shah Bandar because of damaged network of roads, according to a survey conducted by .

Several roads, including the 36km Sujawal-Jhoke road via Mirpur Bathoro, the 32km Sujawal-Shah Yaqeeq road via Chuhar Jamali, the 38km Sujawal-Jati road, the 17km Mirpur Bathoro-Khore Wah road and 20km Belo-Daro road have never been repaired and maintained for the last six to seven years. Their condition has further deteriorated after the last year's flood.

The Sujawal-Jhoke road is gradually becoming useless because of development of huge craters and ditches. Its bridges, inlets, drains and other installations have also been damaged. It hampers streaming of irrigation water to farmland in the canals along the two sides of the road.

People, particularly traders and farmers from Sujawal taluka, use this road to travel to Hyderabad. Vans and other vehicles take five to six hours to cover the distance of 36 kilometres.

Keeping in view condition, majority of public transporters have withdrawn their vehicles from the road, causing heavy rush on available vans and forcing passengers to travel on the roofs of vans.

The situation has deprived many passengers of travelling facility, but provided opportunities for highwaymen to frequently loot passengers.

Growers remain the worst sufferers due to this damaged network of roads because they send their agricultural products, particularly sugarcane and paddy, to four sugar mills and dozens of rice mills located in Sujawal taluka through the road.

Four months ago in a public meeting in Mirpur Bathoro, Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Ali Mirza announced resumption of the construction work of this road in a week but the promise had not been fulfilled yet.

The Sujawal-Shah Yaqeeq road is also damaged. This is one of the busiest roads of the area because it is used by devotees from Karachi and other parts of Sindh to visit the shrine of Shah Yaqeeq.

Condition of the Sujawal-Jati road is not different.

Recently, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, while addressing a public meeting in Jati, promised to get the road constructed in a month but the promise has not been fulfilled.

This road is an important source of communication particularly for the fishermen, milk and vegetable sellers who daily transport their products to Karachi.

PPP leader Aijaz Ali Khowaja, former PPP district president Syed Iqbal Shah, president of Thatta Chamber of Commerce Syed Shahzad Shah and other leaders of public opinion accuse the government and bureaucracy for failing to improve the road network.

They alleged that rampant corruption in the departments concerned, unnecessary political intervention and vested interests were behind the negligence.

When contacted, EDO Works and Services Shafiq Ahmed Khumbhati said the government realised the inconvenience and hardships people confronted due to these damage roads.

He said this network normal roads is the responsibility of the provincial highways department. Referring to a meeting headed by adviser to Chief Minister Sindh on Planning and Development Kaiser Bangali in January, Mr Khumbhati said that he had been entrusted to submit a comprehensive pre-feasibility report prior to Jan 20. He said he furnished the report containing identification of roads and other details.

The Sindh government was intending to call a donors conference in March this year, he said and expressed the hope that the issue would be solved.