Kohat Indus Highway completely worn out

Source APP


About 70 kilometer section of the Indus Highway linking Kohat with Karak has completely worn out causing numerous accidents and loss of precious lives.One lane of the highway is totally in a dilapidated condition and bumpy due to over-loaded trucks exceeding the weight limit fixed by the National Highway Authority (NHA).It may be mentioned that the highway, which is used by all types of vehicles, connects eastern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with commercial hub of the country Karachi.


Mohammad Yasin, owner of a transport company, said that the over-loaded trucks were mainly responsible for the damage to the highway.
“The NHA has not evolved an effective mechanism to check flow of over-loaded trucks on this important route,” he added.
A tribal elder of Khattak tribe in Karak said over 150 people have been killed during last five years due to accidents on this dangerous patch of the highway.
“ Local people have written several letters to the NHA urging it to take steps for its repair but in vain”, he said.
Residents of the district Karak also suffer difficulty in shifting sick people to hospitals in Kohat and Peshawar due to the broken highway.

On the other side, this bumpy road with ditches is damaging vehicles, especially their tyres. According to an NHA official, the Kohat-Karak highway is totally broken and there is a need to lay a completely new road.