PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD: The cash-strapped civic agency of the capital has been struggling to muster funds for the third phase of a signal-free corridor being built from Zero Point to Rawat. As a result, the project has been facing delays.
Senior officials of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) said that work on the project commenced in 2015. The project was due to be completed within two years.
However, the CDA has thus far only managed to complete the first phase of the project while the second phase is expected to be completed in July. But work on the third phase has yet to begin.
The official said that the civic body had sent a summary to the prime minister’s office, requesting it to release Rs10.5 billion for completing the project.
However, the official said that the PM’s Office has yet to review the summary and provide any sort of feedback to the CDA.
“As soon as we receive funds, work will resume,” CDA Member Engineering Shahid Sohail stated matter-of-factly while speaking with the Daily Express.
CDA Chairman Usman Akhtar sent the summary to release Rs10.5 billion to the PM’s office on March 20, he added, noting that the design and survey for the third phase of the project have already been completed along with the publication of pre-qualification advertisements in newspapers.
“After the release of the funds, we will need two years to complete the project,” Sohail said.
Providing a breakdown of the funds requested, the CDA official said that that of the Rs10.5 billion, Rs5 billion will be spent on the construction of a stretch between Koral Chowk and Naval Anchorage. Another Rs5 billion will be spent on building a stretch between Naval Anchorage and T-Chowk in Rawat on Grand Trunk Road.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had inaugurated the project way back in July 2015.
CDA managed to build a four-kilometre stretch from Zero Point to Faizabad under the first phase of the project.
In the second phase, the stretch between Faizabad and Koral Chowk is expected to be completed soon. Work on the Sohan interchange and Koral interchange have already been completed.
The Khanna interchange is expected to be completed within the next two to three months, Sohail said.
The third phase, he explained, is divided into two parts. A five kilometre stretch from Koral Chowk to the Naval Anchorage. The second part is a seven-kilometre stretch from Naval Anchorage to T-Chowk.
It also involves two underpasses on the Kahuta and Japan Road on the Expressway near PWD.
Likewise, a flyover and an underpass have yet to be built at Naval Anchorage near the Sohan Barrage.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 10th, 2018.
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