50 Years for Constructing a Road

Azizullah Khan

BBC Urdu

Publishing Date: Sunday, August 31 2003

This road is at Mughal Kot and lies between Dera Ismail Khan in NWFP and Zhob in Balochistan. This Dera-Mughal Kot Road is supposed to be the only road that joins the Frontier with Balochistan. Since its inception, 50 years have gone by but there is still no sign of its completion and nobody seems to take this matter seriously. It is because of this reason that commuters between NWFP and Balochistan face the hardships of having to travel a longer route through Sindh and Punjab.

There are tracks that connect NWFP and Balochistan that pass through the many riverbeds and mountain passes (like Dhana Sar) but these are very difficult and dangerous to go through. Only heavy and sturdy 4x4 vehicles are able to bear the brunt of these trucks.

It takes over eight hours to travel the 180 km distance between Dera Ismail Khan and Zhob. This track passes through many river beds that are nearly dry due to lack of rainfall. In the rainfall season, this road is completely blocked because of the level of water flowing through.

The Balochistan Government has constructed that portion of road till Mughal Kot which lies in its jurisdiction. But this road is so narrow that it is only capable of accomodating one passing vehicle. Vehicles sometimes have to get off the road in order to let those coming from the opposite direction pass through.

Some times back, the NWFP government also started work on the road again and managed to construct upto 60 kilometers of it. The total budget for this road is 1.7 Arab Rupees (1,700,000,000). The project was scheduled to finish in March 2004 but due to delays it is expected to finish in July 2004. The reason for this delay is the construction of bridges on the many river beds along the track. According to Engineers, there will be upto 12 bridges on a 130 km part of the road.

There was a small and dilapidated road on this track before the inception of Pakistan as well. At one point near Daraban on this road was a sign that showed the distance to London. The reason for this is because this road extends onwards to Europe via Balochistan and Iran. But after the creation of Pakistan, nobody gave any attention towards it.

The road Rips through the Mountains

The Pashtun Nationalist Parties regard the delay in construction as a conspiracy by the Punjabi elite. Leader of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party Abdul Rahim Mando Khel says that Pashtuns of both the provinces have been ruled after dividing and separating them from one another. This Divide and Rule policy was initiated by the British and the Pakistan Government has also adopted it.

There are many areas in Balochistan for which access is only possible through other provinces due to the lack of roads or the dilapidated conditions of existing ones. Examples of such places are Makran Division, Dera Bugti, and Barkhan for which access is only possible through Punjab or Sindh.

According to local people, the Government has given importance to construction of roads in the province but the sense of deprivation in the province can be removed only if massive development works are initiated.

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