Peshawar Mor Interchange: NLC ‘unaware’ of March 23 inauguration

The project has missed three completion deadlines in the last year

ISLAMABAD:

The Peshawar Mor Interchange on the busy Kashmir Highway, for which the federal and Punjab governments budgeted around Rs5 billion, is set to miss another completion deadline.

Authorities confirmed the delay on Tuesday. Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) spokesperson Hafiz Irfan said civil work on the project would be completed by the end of March, while the inauguration could be expected in April. He refused to comment further on the issue.

Earlier, it was announced that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would inaugurate the project on March 23. The project has missed at least three completion deadlines over the last year.

The ruling PML-N referred to the project as the “country’s biggest interchange” and has since been claiming that “technical challenges” led to inordinate delays.

The National Logistics Cell (NLC) has been contracted by the RDA to execute the mega project. Talking to The Express Tribune, NLC Project Manager Maj (retd) Tajamul Hussain claimed that 100 per cent of construction work on the project had been completed.

When asked about the March 23 inauguration, Hussain said, “So far, we have not been conveyed [any notification] by the Rawalpindi Commissioner’s office [regarding] the inauguration of the project on March 23 (today).”

At the project site, authorities have yet to remove piles of mud and dirt. Hussain said horticulture work on the site was the responsibility of the Capital Development Authority.

When construction started, the completion date was set for April 2015 Later it became December 31 of the same year, and now, March 23.

Discussions with officials suggest a dispute over the allegedly faulty design of the interchange has caused the delay in its completion. In the recent past, work was suspended due to a dispute over the project design between NLC and design consultants, the National Engineering Services Pakistan (Nespak).

Work remained at a standstill for almost five months last year after the NLC refused to go ahead with the design submitted by Nespak, expressing apprehensions over the “flawed and feeble” plan.

A senior NLC representative, asking not to be named, said the major objection was related to the design of girders, which bear the structural load and thus constitute a major component of work.

The Peshawar Mor Interchange is part of the multi-billion rupee Metro Bus Project. It was included in the project at a later stage, at the request of the federal government. The centre will provide roughly Rs4 billion for the interchange, while Punjab will pay over Rs1 billion.

A few days ago, talking to The Express Tribune, Nespak Design General Manager Danish Raza has said doubts were raised over the design of the project and that the NLC had abandoned the project for almost five months.

“An impression was given by some quarters that the structure will collapse before completion due to design faults,” Raza said. To settle the dispute, he said, a third party was engaged for design validation, which finally approved the original plan by Nespak.

During committee proceedings, Nespak answered all queries and apprehensions raised by the NLC. “All objections proved baseless and the committee endorsed our design,” Raza added.

The design and construction supervision contract for the Metro Bus Project, worth Rs1.2 billion, including the interchange, was given to Nespak on single tender basis by the Punjab government.

The total length of the overhead, underground and ramp roads is approximately 14 kilometres.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 23^rd, 2016.