February 10, 2003	Monday	Zul Hijjah 8,1423

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ISLAMABAD, Feb 9: Interior minister Faisal Saleh Hayat has directed the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to immediately launch Zero Point Flyover Project, which was shelved by the authority two years ago due to financial constraints.

Talking to Dawn on Sunday, the minister said the authority had dropped the project despite frequent traffic jams at the Zero Point.

He said he had ordered the CDA to take effective steps to ensure smooth flow of traffic on Islamabad Highway, from Airport Chowk to Faisal Mosque.

“Throughout the highway, Zero Point is the only spot where commuters face trouble owing to long traffic jams,” he observed.

A CDA official said the authority had prepared the PC-I of the project several years ago, and it was sent to the government for approval. However, the previous government rejected the plan, saying there was no need to construct the flyover as the volume of the traffic in the capital was not so big at that time.

The official said, according to the plan, the construction of flyover required Rs500 million. However, due to delay in its execution, the cost had increased by seven per cent per year.