The Ghazi Ghat Bridge in Dera Ghazi Khan on the Indus River receives traffic from the entire country. Despite the construction of the DG Khan-Muzaffargarh dual carriageway in the year 2020, the said bridge could not be upgraded apparently because of shortage of funds.
The present bridge, built in 1982 for two-way traffic, was good for sustaining traffic load some 40 years ago, but that is not the case anymore.
As the number of vehicles has seen a sharp rise in recent years, the bridge today receives a heavy flow of traffic from Balochistan and the one being diverted from Peshawar and Karachi towards Punjab. The bridge acts as major inter-provincial corridor.
However, the lack of dual carriageway creates bottlenecks, especially after sunset. Transportation, business activities, ambulances, patients and passengers suffer badly. Also, due to delays, traders dealing in perishable commodities suffer losses.
The toll plaza at the bridge collects a huge revenue, which is a major source of income for the National Highway Authority (NHA). The federal and Punjab governments should resolve the matter by expanding and remodeling the Ghazi Ghat Bridge into a dual carriageway.
SHEIKH AMJAD HUSSAIN
DERA GHAZI KHAN
