Nothing yet has been done to control roaming of cattle on the busiest Murree Road of the federal capital, that links Islamabad with Murree and the issue has become a mystery for the people who are scared of animals like death warrant for a prisoner to be hanged.
However, authorities concerned like Capital Development Authority (CDA), and Islamabad Capital Police were contacted many times by Business Recorder and asked about the issue, but none of them took the responsibility and said that they were not the one to run after these animals on the road and cage them.
It is advised that the concerned authorities should at least install signboard on the road to avoid accident of this nature to a large extent. On Murree Road one could find a variety of animals such as cows, buffaloes, goat, ducks, hens and even camels roaming freely.
The 'killer highway', as some people dub it, has so far taken the lives of many people. Many families have lost their dear ones and the people who survived the accidents are disabled for rest of their lives. One can witness such horrific accidents on this highway almost daily.
Currently, the CDA is actively working in this area and spending a lot of money on the development and construction of a number of recreational spots along Murree Road. Rawal Lake Viewpoint is one of the best examples. The CDA has done a lot to make the shabby place turn into an attractive tourist spot. And no doubt through this place CDA is earning a lot. But besides concentrating more on earning revenues it would be better if the authority should also concentrate on saving lives of the people coming for recreation.
Not only human beings but animals also fall prey to these accidents. Nobody is there to stop these stray animals from roaming freely on the busy road. The road runs through a thickly populated area of Islamabad. The people residing on both side of the road are having a tough time as many of their family members were killed while crossing the road.
According to the officials of Islamabad Traffic Police, over-speeding is considered as the major reason behind these road accidents. However, to overcome this problem, they have installed speed radars at different spots in order to monitor speed of the vehicles.
With this they claim that by taking this initiative it has helped them to decrease the ratio of the road accidents on the highway. But when asked about the movement of animals on the highway, they said, it was the responsibility of the CDA to erect fences on both side of the road. They said that it is not the duty of the traffic police to run after these animals, as they only deal with the traffic on the road and not with the cattle around it.
According to the officials, the animals that are roaming on the highway belonged to the CDA employees living on the both side of the road, mainly Malpur, that is why no one dares to touch them or cage them. However, according to the residents of Malpur, these animals are owned by the locals of the area who are not in any way linked to CDA.
But ever vulnerable remain the residents of Malpur and Barakoh, the fast expanding suburbs of Islamabad on the highway to Murree. When contacted, Mazhar Hussain, Member Environment (CDA) was amazed to know about the free movement of animals on the highway and said that the department is completely aloof of this matter. However, CDA is not alone responsible for all this. The responsibility lies with other departments too, he said. He further said that he would ask his staff to keep a check and take initiatives in order to avoid accidents.
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