Residents living in areas around the 14th Century Sufi Saint Hazrath Khwaja Bande Nawaz Dargah staged a protest here on Sunday demanding that the district administration provide basic amenities and take up beautification works around the pilgrimage centre.
Syed Shah Khusro Hussaini, Sajjada Nasheen of the Dargah-e-Sharif (Dargah Saheb), said that thousands of pilgrims from all over the world visit this holy shrine throughout the year, but the district administration had evinced little interest in providing basic amenities in the area.
He said that the condition of the interior roads is worse and the drainage is filled with mud and slush. During the rainy season, the drains on the either sides of the roads are filled with debris.
Mr. Hussaini said that a master plan related to the main roads in the locality was long delayed. The narrow roads and the absence of footpaths for pedestrians in the locality are creating hurdles to the movement of vehicular traffic on the busy road leading to the dargah.
There are around 50 educational institutions in and around the locality and traffic management can be streamlined only with the redesigning of some major junctions on the route connecting the dargah complex and the education institutions. The existing roads should be widened to ensure pedestrian safety, Mr. Hussaini added.
Mr. Hussaini urged the authorities to take up these issues on priority and address them at the earliest to facilitate residents and pilgrims alike. He said that the dargah will witness the annual urs of Hazrath Khwaja Bande Nawaz scheduled on July 19.