Urban development: Multan Road project faces further delays

Committee recommends remaining section be divided into three phases.

LAHORE:

The second section of the Multan Road expansion project faces further delays due to a shortage of funds as the cost of the project has risen beyond its original estimates.

The Punjab government has allocated Rs1.5 billion for the project but that is barely enough to cover the cost of acquiring land at Yateem Khana Chowk and Samanabad Mor, said sources in the Project Management Unit and a steering committee for the project formed by the chief minister.

MNA Mian Marghoob Ahmed, who heads the steering committee, said that they had recommended that the second section be divided further into three phases, with phase one to be completed this fiscal year.

The first phase would involve rehabilitation of the road from Scheme Mor to Yateem Khana Chowk, the second from Yateem Khana Chowk to Samanabad Mor, and the third phase from Samnabad Mor to Chauburji.

“The project cannot be finished by June this year, when all development funds lapse, so the steering committee has decided to divide it into three phases,” Ahmed told The Express Tribune.

He said that the plan had been sent to the chief minister and work on the first phase would start soon. “There have been delays because the project cost, which was initially estimated as Rs1.5 billion, was shown to have gone up to Rs2.5 billion when the project funds were allocated,” he said.

But sources in the PMU said that the plan had been sent to the chief minister a month ago and the Punjab government was yet to respond. The sources said that the PMU had not received any indication that work on the road was about to start.

“Usually we receive advance notice by a month or two for land acquisition but we haven’t heard anything. I don’t think anything will be done soon,” said the sources.

They said that land acquisition at Yateem Khana and Samanabad would cost Rs1.5 billion, the relocation of roadside facilities like telephone and electricity infrastructure would cost Rs300 million, while repairing the 3.8 kilometres of road from Scheme Mor to Chauburji would cost another Rs700 million.

Currently, a carpeted three-lane road runs from Tokhar Niaz Beg to Yateem Khana Chowk, from where it becomes a rough patch, testing vehicle suspensions, up to Samanabad Mor.

Work on Multan Road began in October 2009 and the road from Thokar Niaz Beg to Scheme Mor, around 7.3 km, has been rehabilitated. The government allocated Rs2.13 billion for road works on section one, of which around Rs1.5 billion has been spent thus far. Some Rs1.66 billion was allocated for land acquisition and relocation of road side facilities and Rs308 million for a sewerage line. A 72-inch trunk sewerage line 40-foot deep at a cost of Rs1.43 billion is yet to be laid. The line would address sewerage problems in Canal View Society, Azam Garden, Mustafa Town and other areas between Chungi and Thokar Niaz Beg.

Alongside the 7.3 km stretch of three-lane road, section one has 3 km of service lanes and 80 green belts have been turned into parking stands. Seven taxi stands have been built. Seven pedestrian bridges have been constructed while one is under construction.

The delay in completion of the project has been a major inconvenience to residents of Multan Road. Usman Ghani, a shop owner, said that the government should have completed work on this road before starting other road projects around the city.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 19^th, 2012.