CDA to award contract for Mass Transit Project

Authority restarts work for a solution to transport problems.

ISLAMABAD: Capital Development Authority (CDA) will award the contract for conducting a feasibility study for the Rapid Mass Transit Project (RMTP) in the twin cities. The decision which was going to be taken after Eid would be a step in the direction of setting up of a more efficient system for inter-city movement.

Officials from CDA said that two firms had already been finalised for the purpose. “After open tendering, files of two potential companies have been forwarded to the CDA Board which would discuss the candidates in the next meeting,” an official said.

The Chairman CDA Imtiaz Inayat Elahi had gone to Saudia Arabia for Hajj, but the meeting is going to be held upon his return, where the candidates would be approved, they added.

Two firms, one Spanish and another Austrian and German consortium have been selected after tendering. The contract for the study would be awarded to one of them keeping in view the financial and technical expertise. Sources said that other than the feasibility study, the construction cost of the project would be around Rs400 million.

This is not for the first time such a project has been brought into discussion. The civic authority had earlier awarded the feasibility study of RMTP to Rejler, a Swedish firm, which later backed out citing security concerns. The project had been approved by former chairman CDA Kamran Lashari in 2008, but could not be materialised during his period.

Later, the official had contended that new firms would start conducting the study soon after awarding the contract and it would take at least eight months for completion.

The study would be based on underground, on ground and overhead travelling facilities between the twin cities. The new firm would collect and review the planning and transportation data and the future transportation requirement.

Transportation continues to be a major challenge for the residents, as well as the city managers of the twin cities. The problem is expected to worsen in the coming years, with the increase in population. “For the people of nearby areas, Rawalpindi and Islamabad are attractive in terms of jobs and standard of living, forcing many to migrate here,” said an official. “Moreover, with the 2005 earthquake, war on terror and now floods, the flow of internally displaced persons has increased and is expected to cause the population to further grow,” he added.

According to some reports, population of the twin cities is growing at a rate of more than four per cent per annum. This is higher than the national growth indicating significant increase in migration to the twin cities.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 21^st, 2010.