KARACHI: The rickety roads of Karachi are an everyday reality for the roughly 25 million residents of this teeming metropolis. For commuters - whether on wheels or feet - uneven or under-construction roads chequered with potholes are a daily menace.

The sitaution only worsens following rain, with roads that were recently renovated also developing crevices and in certain instances craters big enough to make a small vehicle topple over.

This time around, when the city received record rainfall, almost every Karachi road was damaged due to the accumulated rainwater and sewage overflow.

With the season now over, the authorities have moved towards the rebuilding phase.

The Sindh government earmarked Rs11 billion for the renovation of road and sewage network.

Work for the renovation of roads started in earnest in September, with heavy machinery visible on some of the worst-affected roads.

However, reports of broken roads started resurfacing only days after carpeting was carried out.

Where does the buck stop?

One of the reasons that shiny roads quickly disintegrate is due to the quality of the raw material used in the construction.

The contractors, who are awarded road contracts, blame government officials for taking “commission” (read: graft) for contract approval.

“If we are giving ‘speed money’ for getting contracts and ’to clear our bills, then the quality of the road will be compromised,” said contractor Saeed Mughal.

Speed money refers to extortion paid to grease the wills of bureaucracy to get approvals - whether it is for getting a contract or the release of funds.

Mughal told Aaj News that contractors use Iranian asphalt to recover the amount they have to pay as ‘commission’ to the government official responsible for awarding the contract or releasing payment. “The entire process starting from awarding of the road tender to its completion is dubious.”

Another contractor Ashfaq Sherwani talked about the ‘culture of commission’ in Karachi’s engineering departments of the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) and Karachi Development Authority (KDA).

Sherwani said that the department made some changes around 15 years ago. “The officers deal through their ‘special agents’. These agents or frontmen make deals with the contractors on behalf of the government officers.”

Sherwani accused these frontmen of awarding contracts to specific ‘blue-eyed contractors’ and taking money in advacne for the confirmation of the contract. “These people take money and provide tenders to specific people only under this system.”

Sherwani said that the officers are appointed through a similarly compromised system regardless of eligibility. “A grade-18 officer could be appointed to the post of grade-20 and grade-21.”

The Fix

Dr Prof Adnan Qadir, the chairman of the Urban and Infrastructure Engineering Department at the prestigious NED University of Engineering and Technology, said that one way to fix this problem is to use the right ratio in terms of raw material to make it compact. “You have to field test it first and only then pavement layers. Otherwise, it is a disaster waiting to happen.”

Meanwhile, KDA Chief Engineer Nadeem Iqbal denied that commissions are paid to officers in lieu of contracts insiting that the process is transparent. “In the first phase, a scheme is announced and the department invites tenders through a committee,” he added.

After 15 days the tenders are opened and contractors are taking part in the bidding process. Then, the department analyzes the contractor’s capacity for completing the work and awardi the contract on the basis of merit.

“Some contractors are leveling false allegations on the engineering department to cover up for their negligence and wrongdoing in some of their work,” the KDA chief concluded.