Metro bus project: Work 25 per cent complete says Hanif Abbasi

“Construction work is in full swing and three companies have completed 25 per cent of work" said Abbasi.

RAWALPINDI:

Metro bus project chairman Hanif Abbasi said on Monday that around 25 per cent construction work on Murree road section of Metro Bus project has been completed in the last two months.

“Construction work is in full swing and three companies have completed 25 per cent of work at their respective sites. Erecting of pillars for the 8.6 kilometre elevated track from Flashman Chowk up to Faizabad will hopefully be completed by June 30,” he told APP.

The Rs43 billion project, initiated on March 23, is scheduled for completion in 10 months.

He said civic bodies and utility providers have been directed to shift their respective services in accordance with the alternate plan by May 30 to ensure roadwork goes ahead unhindered.

To a question, he said, land acquisition to set up 10 bus terminals at Flashman, Mareer, Liaquat Bagh, Committee Chowk, Waris Khan, Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Rehmanabad, Sixth Road, Shamsabad and Faizabad was underway.

Abbasi said compensation to affected traders and reasonable payment for land would be ensured in consultation with trade bodies, adding that the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) has been tasked with preparing a workable formula for this.

He said the terminals would have all necessary facilities like escalators, elevators, generators and public toilets, adding that a tender would be floated by mid-June for the purchase of buses, escalators, lifts and generators.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 27^th, 2014.