PHOTO: APP
LAHORE: The Punjab government has given a deadline of two and a half months to complete all development work on the package-2 of the Lahore Orange Line Metro Train project (OLMT).
The Chief Minister’s Adviser and OLMT Steering Committee Chairman Khawaja Ahmad Hassaan asked the project contractor to complete the civil works on time after inspecting the progress of the package covering the route from Chauburji to Ali Town, Thokar Niaz Baig.
Speaking to the media on Saturday, Hassaan said the pace of work on package-2 had been increased and 57% of it had been completed. He added that the laying of tracks would begin this month and all the development work would be completed by the end of the year. He said rails for 3km tracks would be handed over to the Chinese contractor, CR-Norinco, in 15 days so that the work on the section might be launched.
The adviser said the government had replaced the previous contractor because of sluggish work. The new contractor had accelerated the work without compromising its quality, he said, adding that it was a challenge for both the government and the contractor to complete the project on time.
Hassaan said that 440 precast girders had been prepared and 290 of them had been installed so far. Currently, six U-tub girders were being built and the contractor was trying to increase the pace of pre-casting, he added.
He praised project contractors Nespak and Lahore Development Authority (LDA) for accepting the challenge to build the girders for the first time in Pakistan.
LDA Chief Engineer Asrar Saeed, Nespak General Managers Salman Hafeez and Haseeb Khawaja, Project Director Mazhar Hussain and representatives of Chinese contractor firms were also present on the occasion.
According to analysts, the Punjab government appears to be interested because of political reasons to complete the country’s first metro train project before next year’s general elections. Interestingly, a slow progress has been seen on the OLMT package-2 during the past eight months but now the government has fixed the two-and-a-half month deadline for the remaining civil works.
According to sources, engineers working on the project believe that these deadlines are unrealistic because construction activities cannot be started at 11 locations due to stay orders and pending litigation.
The 27km project is being funded through a $1.65 billion soft loan by China’s Exim Bank. The project documents indicate that around $1 billion would be directly transferred to the Chinese contractors for procurement of the rolling stock, while the remaining amount would be transferred to Pakistan for construction of the tracks and allied infrastructure.
The project is part of the city metro network and, when completed, will connect Raiwind, Multan Road, McLeod Road, Lahore Junction Railway Station and the Grand Trunk Road. It will be the first line of the Lahore Metro -- the country’s first mass rapid transit train system.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 15th, 2017.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ