March 30, 2003	Sunday	Muharram 26, 1424

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PESHAWAR, March 29: As the flood season is round the corner vital protection schemes remain incomplete in the central and southern parts of the province, officials said.

The non-completion of the flood protection schemes in Peshawar and D.I. Khan districts could threaten the communication network and public property in the flood season beginning the end of April, engineers said.

Officials said that the Federal Flood Commission had sanctioned two flood protection schemes in the Peshawar district in the annual development programme.

The commission had yet to give an approval of the schemes, which caused delays in the construction work, an official of the Flood and Drainage Division told Dawn here on Saturday.

He said that the commission had approved a total of nine flood protection schemes in the Peshawar and D.I. Khan districts in the current ADP. The estimated cost of these schemes is Rs269 million. But the department concerned had started construction of one scheme, out of the nine approved and being financed by the Asian Development Bank.

Sources said the FFC had sanctioned Rs6.33 million for the construction of an apron to protect Adizai Bridge, which connects Peshawar with Charsadda and northern parts of the province.

 About 60 per cent of the work had been completed and the remaining work awaited revised approval of the federal government, they said. They feared that the said bridge could collapse if protection work was not completed before April 30.

Another flood protection scheme, costing Rs1.51 million near the village Palosi on the outskirts of Peshawar has also been delayed, and the scrutiny committee had already approved PC-1 of the project, they said.

Officials said the department concerned had completed PC-1 of the four schemes in Swabi, Peshawar and Hangu districts under the Flood Protection Project Sector-2. These have been completed, but civil works had been postponed owing to the non-availability of soil test.

The FFC has recommended five flood protection schemes worth Rs250 million in the D.I. Khan districts, but construction work could not be started. Officials said that flood and drainage division had intimated the FFC time and again, but no action had been taken so far.