Barki Road, Lahore’s defence lifeline, lies half-built and abandoned — where is Maryam Nawaz’s government?

Barki Road lies broken in monsoon mud — a civilian crisis and a strategic vulnerability the Punjab government is ignoring

Lahore’s Rs3.1 billion Barki Road Phase 1 project has stalled due to LDA’s failure to fund it, leaving commuters in monsoon misery on a road that is both PM Shehbaz’s constituency and a critical defense lifeline.

By Imran Malik | Lahore Desk | MediaBites.com.pk

Lahore’s Barki Road should have been completed by June 2026. It was not. And the people paying the price are thousands of commuters, residents, shopkeepers, and schoolchildren who use this 6.1 kilometre artery every single day.

The numbers tell the story

The Phase 1 project carries a total cost of Rs3.1 billion. Last fiscal year, the government released just Rs290 million. This year, only Rs100 million has been allocated.

LDA Chief Engineer Asrar Saeed told Dawn directly: “When there would be meager allocation of funds, there would be delay in the project completion.”

No engineering problem. No technical failure. Pure and simple funding negligence by the Punjab government.

Monsoon has made it unbearable

Contractors dismantled the road, dug up sewerage lines, and then ran out of money to finish. Now the monsoon has arrived and what was a construction inconvenience has become a public health hazard.

Broken surfaces. Standing water. Traffic gridlock. Accidents increasing. Businesses losing customers. Pedestrians unable to cross safely.

Schools reopen in less than a month. Parents dropping children and commuters heading to offices will face the same broken road with no resolution in sight.

This is not just a road — it is a defense lifeline

Here is the dimension of this crisis that the Punjab government appears to have completely failed to internalize.

Barki Road is not simply a commuter corridor. It connects Lahore’s cantonment areas and defense installations to the city’s broader road network. In any emergency scenario requiring rapid movement of security personnel, equipment, or administrative response, Barki Road is a primary artery.

A half-built, congestion-prone, monsoon-flooded Barki Road is not merely an inconvenience to civilians. It is a strategic vulnerability.

The question that demands an answer is why Pakistan’s defense and security authorities, who have a direct institutional interest in maintaining operational road infrastructure around Lahore’s cantonment areas, have not placed sufficient pressure on the Punjab government to prioritize and accelerate completion of this project.

A road that serves defense is not optional infrastructure. It should not be subject to the same funding release delays that affect discretionary urban beautification projects. The strategic importance of Barki Road demands emergency treatment, not standard bureaucratic processing.

Three facts that expose the real problem

👉 This road runs through PM Shehbaz Sharif’s own constituency. Pakistan’s Prime Minister represents an area where a critical road has been left in monsoon mud due to his own government’s failure to release adequate funds.

👉 Barki Road outside Paragon City was carpeted in just two nights before a VIP family wedding. If a road can be fixed overnight for the right occasion, the funding excuse collapses entirely. Thousands of daily commuters deserve the same urgency extended for a wedding.

👉 CM Maryam Nawaz’s special adviser Zeeshan reportedly lives on this road. A senior aide to the Chief Minister allegedly navigates this same broken surface daily. And still nothing moves.

What Maryam Nawaz, Marriyum Aurangzeb and Azma Bukhari must do now

Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz must personally visit Barki Road. Not for a photo opportunity. For an emergency funding order.

Marriyum Aurangzeb, who manages Punjab’s communications with remarkable energy for positive announcements, must now answer publicly why a road in the Prime Minister’s own constituency has received only Rs100 million this fiscal year for a Rs3.1 billion project.

Azma Bukhari, equally visible on positive government narratives, owes Barki Road’s commuters the same media attention she enthusiastically gives to every government success story.

Three specific actions are needed immediately.

1. Emergency fund release for the remaining LDA allocation.

2. Construction in three shifts around the clock.

3. A public completion deadline with accountability attached.

Phase 2 covering 15 kilometers has not even been approved yet. The government cannot complete Phase 1 and has not approved Phase 2.

Residents have one demand. Complete this project. Now.