Supreme Court: 92% Highways In Pakistan ‘Dangerous’ and ‘Unsafe’ for travelling

The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) has made some shocking claims by revealing that 92% of the highways in the country are “dangerous” and “unsafe” for travelling. 

The Chief Justice SCP, Justice Gulzar Ahmed, made these remarks while labeling the National Highway Authority (NHA) report about roads as unsatisfactory.

The chief justice remarked that except for the Lahore-Islamabad Motorway (M-2), the authorities have abandoned all of the highways and motorways.

He also expressed annoyance over the alleged harassment of travelers by the Frontier Corps (FC) Balochistan in the name of inspection.

These observations were revealed in a court hearing about the terrible and dilapidated condition of the Karachi-Quetta Highway, also known as the N-25 National Highway and previously known as the RCD (Regional Cooperation for Development) Highway.

It is pertinent to note that the Karachi-Quetta Highway is also known as the “killer road” as more people in Balochistan have died in car accidents on the highway than due to terrorism.

The single-lane highway passes through ten major cities. The route starts from Karachi and passes through Bela, Khuzdar, Kalat, Quetta, Chaman, and continues into Afghanistan.

The chief justice remarked that the Chitral-Gilgit Road had only been completed on paper.

However, there are only rocks on the road, and no cars can cross the road. A road does not get a budget until ten people die, he lamented.

Justice Gulzar also lamented the condition of the roadside reflectors on the side of the highways and motorways.

He remarked that in other countries, the roadside reflectors in other countries were kept in such a condition that they flashed brightly to people driving at nighttime.

However, in Pakistan, old reflectors were painted yellow or red to look new.

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