Daikundi residents complain deteriorated condition of connectivity roads

NEILLI (Pajhwok): Some residents of central Daikundi province have complained against the worsening condition of connectivity roads in the province and asked relevant authorities to pay attention to the reconstruction of roads.

They said the deterioration and lack of public transportation in this province have made people’s daily lives difficult.

Zaman Muradi, a resident of Daikundi province, complained against the dilapidated condition of roads and said main roads in the province were below the standard due to which people always suffered losses.

Except for a few kilometers of road in Neilli city, the center of Daikundi and Shaharshan district, all public roads are dirt and substandard, and most of the time, people are deprived of government services due to the deteriorated condition of road and risks of journey.

“Because the roads are bad and cars are not able to get there, most of the time, emergency patients have not reached the hospital and have died, women who have given birth have also died on the way because they got stuck in the ditches and did not reach the hospital in time, and sometimes their children have died,” he said.

Ali Jan, a resident of Miramour district, said Daikundi’s roads are narrow and often get damaged, which caused them to be blocked for long periods of time, making access to health services and other daily activities impossible.

“The roads are narrow. If drivers are even slightly careless, their cars will overturn. If a car comes from the front, they will have difficulty passing each other. Last year, a car on the Vanke bypass overturned because the road went under its tires, killing nine people.” He said.

Mohammadi added that roads are one of the most important needs of people’s lives and the government needed to pay attention to this area so that people have access to health services and other daily needs, he added that due to these bad roads, food and non-food items are sold at very high prices in Daikundi compared to other provinces.

Rashid Tabish, the representative of one of the Transport Company, said due to the dilapidated condition of roads vehicles damage soon and last for a short time.

He added the deteriorated condition of roads also discourage people from travelling.

He added that the Daikundi-Kabul highway is the only highway in the country that did not have workers for maintenance and repair and is repaired by the people once a year, but after a little rainfall, it is destroyed again and forgotten until the next year.

Tabesh added that due to the deterioration of the roads and the impassability of the communication routes, dozens of fatal traffic incidents occurred annually on this route.

On the other hand, as the winter season approached, people and motorists are more concerned and are demanding the government’s attention to keeping the communication routes open.

Daikundi is one of the cold and snowy provinces, and in the winter season, most of its communication routes between the center and districts and the center to other neighboring provinces and the center of the country are closed.

Mawlavi Ikramullah Abdul Raafai, head of the Daikundi Public Works Department, due to the harsh and mountainous geography of this province, there are serious problems in the transportation sector and the majority of the routes are substandard, which caused many traffic incidents.

“The general route from Daikundi to Kabul, some areas of the Kandahar route, and several kilometers of roads in Khadir and Ashtarli are almost up to standard, but the rest of the routes are substandard.”

Head of the Public Works Department said in the upcoming winter, a snow-clearing program covering 277 kilometers of roads in eight districts of the province has been contracted with private companies, and the 97-kilometer Daikundi-Bamyan highway along the Kotal-e-Qonaq route will be cleared of snow by this department’s machinery.

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