Can’t catch Metro ride to new airport until March 2018

Project set to miss another deadline due to heavy rains, underground pipes at Golra Mor.

ISLAMABAD: Despite missing three deadlines already, a project to extend the metro bus project in the capital — from Peshawar Mor to the new airport — has been pushed back by another three months, officials said on Thursday.

However, both the access roads leading up to the New Islamabad International Airport via the Thalian interchange and the Grand Trunk (GT) Road interchange are on track to open by the middle of January after being delayed by a few weeks, an official privy to the project told The Express Tribune.



The 25.6 kilometre-long extension to the Islamabad Metro Bus project, which had been approved in January to link the New Islamabad International Airport (NIIA) to the capital, had initially been slated to be built by August 14 — to coincide with the opening of the airport.

However, the project had to undergo some design changes and cost rationalization. Along with delays to the airport, the project too saw delays. But it seems that the delays will ultimately serve the project well since cost has been driven down from the Rs16.7 billion estimated initially to just Rs12 billion.

“The reduction in the construction cost of this project will make it one of the cheapest Metro projects in the country,” said the official who requested to remain anonymous for fear of retribution.

Sharing details of the project, he said that the project envisaged extending the existing route from Peshawar Mor to the New Islamabad International Airport (NIIP) near Fateh Jang will now be completed by March 2018 with an estimated cost of Rs12 billion after rationalising its project concept-1.

“The project has already been delayed by three months mainly due to unexpected heavy showers and in finding a proper solution for protecting old sewerage and water pipes passing under Golra Mor and the National Highway Authority (NHA) took up the case with the Capital Development Authority (CDA),” said the official.

Even though former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had stressed on maintaining deadlines for all projects related to NIIA, its first delays came from the former premier himself. Mired by verdicts in the Panama case, Nawaz inaugurated the metro bus project later than expected.

“Though the project was inaugurated in May this year, work on the project started with a delay from its scheduled date, therefore it was impossible to meet the deadline announced by the former prime minister,” said the official.

Later, it was announced that the project will be completed by November 22. But the authorities missed the deadline again. Earlier in December, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was told in a high-level meeting by NHA Chairman Shahid Ashraf Tarar that the project will be completed by the end of the year.

The third deadline — of December 31 — was set. But the official said that the deadline was expected to be pushed back once again.



“Due to the unexpected heavy rainfall in the capital, construction work was stopped for two months while a further 30 days were lost because the NHA had taken up the issue of underground utility pipes below the Golra Mor with the CDA,” the official explained.

The delay was confirmed by an NHA official.

“Work on the metro bus project is proceeding at full pace and hopefully [work] will be completed by March 2018 as per the scheduled time,” said the authority’s spokesperson Kashif Zaman.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 29^th, 2017.