ISLAMABAD, Nov 23 (APP): The majority of the road lights, en-route Monal restaurant, are dysfunctional since long, posing grave threat to the life and properties of motorists, who swarmed the lovely tourist location especially after sunset to glimpse the twinkling lights of the city.
More than half of the lights along the 9km hilly route, having many dangerous sharp curves, require Capital Development Authority’s (CDA) urgent attention for overhauling to ensure tourists’ and locals’ safety. Talking to APP, Ishfaq Ahmed said he narrowly escaped an accident last week after he encountered a drove of pigs en route Monal that appeared suddenly from green areas along the hills. The motorist, who visited the Monal restaurant along with his family, said he was lucky enough to escape the accident, adding the situation needed rectification measures from authorities concerned to save the life and properties of people.
Ijaz Ahmed, a motorcyclist from Rawalpindi, said in his opinion, two wheelers were more prone to accidents on the route along Daman-i-Koh as motorists coming from opposite side use high beams, creating more visibility problem due to darkness on the road. He also urged for early restoration of the out-of-order lights for public safety. A foreign visitor said his dream came true as he finally visited the place after waiting for this day for last couple of days, but he regretted that the place was deprived of the major facility needed for the tourists’ safety.
“Traveling at night with family on a dark road was a matter of concern which must be taken up seriously,” he remarked. “Once there was a time when the scenic site attracted the tourists due to the zigzag en-route lights from the Zero Point appeared as a big snake moving in the Margalla hills,” said Usman Khan while commenting on faulty street lights along the Daman-i-Koh route.
He said it was very unfortunate that the area had failed to compel the first-time visitors to the capital to visit the hill top location that now appeared as tiny dots from the Islamabad Expressway. A policeman at the picket near Islamabad Zoo, requesting anonymity, said over 1,000 tourists daily visited the picturesque site and many complained about the defunct lights.
When contacted, CDA Member Finance Rana Shakeel said their main focus was to fix lights of urban areas on priority. However, he assured that the issue would soon be resolved. A CDA’s official at the Maintenance and Lights Department said road lights were being upgraded in routine and shifted the blame on monkeys for non-functioning of the lights. He said they break the top structure of the lights where bulbs are intact adding that some bad elements deliberately damaged the lights for the fulfillment of their wicked plans.
The flexible mode of the lights attracts them to play with, thus they get damaged.
Stay tuned to Baaghi TV for latest news and updates!
Sheikh Rashid meets the new Chinese Ambassador
Workshop & Exhibition on ‘AI in Healthcare’ From Tuesday
Pakistan’s Improvement in Trade Facilitation List by 31 points Hailed
