Speeding up the process: Rs1.08b underpass to be completed in 4 months

Rs145m damage notices issued by six departments.

FAISALABAD:

The Abdullahpur underpass will be completed within four months at a cost of Rs1.08 billion.

Communication and Works (C&W) Secretary Major (retd) Azam Suleman on Monday visited the construction site at Abdullahpur Chowk on Canal Road.

A meeting was held at the commissioner’s office to examine the technical and administrative aspects of the underpass project. The meeting was attended by Commissioner Syed Tahir Husain, the acting DCO Waheed Akhtar Ansari and officials from the Irrigation Department, the FESCO, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited, the PTCL, the Planning and Development Department, the WASA, the NESPAK and the NLC.

C&W secretary Suleman said the work on the Abdullahpur underpass will be carried out in two shifts to meet the deadline. He gave engineers one day to come up with a work plan.

He said a plan should also be made to shift utility services and divert traffic.

He said a rehearsal should also be carried out three days before implementing the traffic diversion plan to identify any flaws.

He said sign boards will be put up to direct people to alternative routes. He said the Commissioner and DCO will hold weekly meetings at the camp office at Canal Road to review the project’s progress.

NESPAK engineers presented the plan and design of the underpass.

They said the project could benefit 63 per cent of traffic. They said 196,784 vehicles cross the chowk daily.

Damage notices:

Separately, six government departments issued notices in advance to the C&W Department to pay Rs145.175 million to compensate for damage to their facilities during the construction of Abdullahpur Underpass.

A C&W Department official speaking on condition of anonymity said the notices served by the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA), Irrigation Department, Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation Limited (PTCL), Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO), Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and the NTC.

WASA has demanded Rs106.2 million, the Irrigation Department Rs15.8 million, PTCL Rs11.365 million, FESCO Rs7.167 million, SNGPL Rs4.505 million and and NTC Rs0.138 million before allowing the construction of the Abdullahpur Underpass to go ahead.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11^th, 2012.