The federal capital’s main artery, Jinnah Avenue is gradually losing its former looks and glory, thanks to the apathy of the civic agency, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) which is mainly responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the city. The adjacent Nazim-ud-Din Road is also showing signs of indifference by the civic agency.
This lack of ownership is manifest in the form of several ditches and craters formed on the 5-km long section of the road opposite the Fatima Jinnah (F-9) Park where the New Blue Area is in the making.
The contractor companies entrusted with construction of high rise buildings, shopping plazas and one petrol pump have left these cavities unfilled and uncovered. Besides, the section of the road from the McDonald’s Chowk to the Centaurus Plaza is also presenting a pathetic picture of the state of affairs prevailing in the Municipal Directorate of the civic agency as it is yet to remove the political parties’ flags from the electric poles despite the fact two months have passed since the general elections.
“This is something very annoying,” said Alia Rana, a motorist while talking to Pakistan Observer. She drives her car daily on the same section of the road to reach her workplace. Flags of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and other big and small political parties keep flying day and night while the elections are over since Feb 9. Islamabad has never been like this, she said and attributed this to the lack of ownership on part of the CDA. The civic agency seems little interested in the upkeep and cleanliness of the city.
The Municipal staff of the CDA used to remove all flags and panaflexesetc which were put up on the poles and trees as soon as election fever was over, she said.
Another commuter ArshadHussain who works in a mobile shop in the Blue Area said not only the road is coloured with political parties’ flags the material used for the pavements and footpaths even the road, is also substandard. It is quite uneven and you suddenly experience a dip in the road in front of Gate No. 1 of the F-9 Park that is very dangerous and risky, he said.
Faulty traffic signals, tilted pylons and the party flags— all these eyesores have left the common resident of Islamabad wondering if there is someone who can be called custodian of the city. Does the city’s uplift figure somewhere in the priority list of the CDA’s hierarchy right from the top (Chairman) to the bottom (a common worker). MehtabHussain, a political worker traced the root cause of all these ills in persistent delay in holding local bodies’ elections. Unless you give the city its representatives, you will continue to face such problems, he said.
Pakistan Observer in order to take the CDA’s views tried to reach its spokesperson but in vain. A message was also sent to a senior official’s cell phone but no reply was received.
