At long last, hope is rekindled that Rawalpindi will be rid of traffic congestion to a great extent as the Ring Road has heaved into sight finally. The project was conceived by the previous government as the garrison city had become a traffic nightmare. Be it the main Murree Road or the Mall, gridlocks were and are an order of the day. However, the previous government could not get it through. The funding was agreed upon but necessary NoCs could not be obtained. Rawalpindi Commissioner Capt (r) Mohammad Mahmood has announced the good news that the ‘Project management unit, Rawalpindi ring road’ have succeeded in satisfying the Punjab Environment Protection Agency about the impact of the project on the environment and have won a nod from the environment watchdog. Capt (r) Mehmood has devoted considerable energies into making the city clean and green. He has made arrangements to check the air quality at busy points on the city roads to make sure that steps are taken to reduce pollution. Now he has taken up the herculean task of planting no less than 300,000 saplings along the Ring Road, which is quite something. Only time will tell whether this commitment is realistic or not. Small cities and even villages have ring roads in Punjab but it is anybody’s guess why the federal capital of Islamabad and the garrison city of Rawalpindi do not have these. As a result, all the heavy traffic coming from GT Road is diverted to Islamabad Expressway, unleashing hell for about two-thirds of Islamabad population which lives in the housing societies that thickly flank this stretch. At Faizabad, this heavy traffic hits the IJP Road, which is already crammed as it runs right between the two cities. The level of pollution is increased manifold at this point as on its one side lies Islamabad’s Industrial Area and on the other Rawalpindi’s bus stop. The Ring Road will lessen the intensity of this havoc for both the cities and it can be seen as a legacy that may define the commissioner at a local level in the days to come. In any government, almost all MNAs from the Rawalpindi division get ministerial or other important office but the fate of the area remains unchanged. Hence, it seems that this good officer has gone out of the way to make a difference and it is good. More power to his elbow. *