Ignoring Rawalpindi irks residents

My first memories of Rawalpindi as a young person are the long evening walks watching the sunset along the road. Now fifty years later, the city that has been my home its memories remain preserved even as the city has grown too much.

“I cannot forget the social structures in Rawalpindi’s historic core center on neighborhoods, each known as a Mohallah. A nearby bazaar serves each neighborhood. Each Mohallah has narrow streets, and the grouping of houses around short lanes and cul-de-sacs lends a sense of privacy and security to residents of each neighborhood,” says Musa Kazim.

“Rawalpindi is widely known as one of the livable cities. In recent years, my city has focused on road infrastructure projects for revitalizing the existing transport networks. With the city Corporation budget approval, long pending areas of concern need committed focus,” says Ali Akber.

“As a citizen, I feel these are several key areas, which stand ignored and need adequate attention. Vehicles take over footpaths meant for pedestrians. Not much has been done to develop footpaths, walkways, crossings, and pedestrian infrastructure,” says Faraj Mehdi.

“Just a year back Municipal Administration emphasized the right to walk and ordered the laying of new footpaths in each zone. However, nothing to this effect we witness on the ground. Crossing roads at many junctions is a nightmare as I experienced, with nonexistent or ill-planned crossings like bridges with no thought given to pedestrian safety,” says Sajid Ali.

“Removal of bins for implementing doorstep garbage collection, waste is seen piling up along some roads. This centralized waste collection system is not working well as envisaged and needs change to involve all stakeholders, including waste generators, to make it a success,” says Mazahir Hussain.