DR Ziauddin Ahmed Road is a VIP thoroughfare in Karachi. Many VIP houses, hotels and offices are located here. For instance, the Chief Minister House, Karachi Club, Pearl Continental Hotel, Rangers headquarters, Dawn newspaper, SupremeCourt Registry, and many other buildings.

Naturally, there is a constant VIP movement at all hours of the day, especially in the morning.

However, this road has a very shabby look. It is uneven and has rough patches in many places. There is no demarcation of lanes or no zebra-crossings. The footpath practically does not exist, and whatever is there is encroached upon by containers, security walls or sand bags. Trees and plants wear a dirty and dusty 1001<. The walls are ugly with graffiti.

The stretch leading from Shaheen Complex to SM Law College is broken at many places, causing traffic to move at a slow pace. At a few places generators have been placed on thefootpathsforcing pedestrians to walk on the road.

The traf fic signal at the PIDC intersection goes off every time the traffic police receive a wireless message about the VIP movement and vehicles are stopped to give way.

Unfortunately the VIPs and decisionmakers who move on this road with sirens and hooters blaring and dark glasses, get no time to view the misery the common man is facingtoyield to theirentourage.

Dr Kartar Dawani Karachi