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| May 31, 2005 | Tuesday | Rabi-us-Sani 22, 1426 |
Rs240m road started crumbling in months
KOHAT, May 30: A 26-km portion of the Kohat-Rawalpindi road, the first project of the Frontier Highways Authority in this area that was completed at a cost of Rs240 million, has become more a problem than a source of convenience. People’s health has been deteriorating as they have been inhaling dust for three long years because the metalled surface of the road was washed away long ago.
It took three years to complete the construction of the road during which the schedule for its completion was revised thrice for reasons known only to the authorities concerned.
It was initially to be opened for traffic in Sept 2003 but keeping in view the problems being faced by the contractor the date was extended to March 2004.
The people who experienced immense hardships for nearly three decades in the hope that they would be rewarded for their patience when the new Rawalpindi road started functioning were badly disappointed when it started crumbling within a few months of its completion.
The newly-constructed road was supposed to be of an international standard like the motorway because it was constructed to facilitate future trade with Central Asia via Afghanistan.
Now after the lapse of a year a three-km section of the road near Gumbat is still lying incomplete and a new date has been fixed once again for its completion.
One truly wonders as to who would be able to solve the problem because many inquiries regarding it have been shelved while at least two contractors have been changed and many officials have been suspended and reinstated. The project remains a permanent source of worry for the people.
Business circles and transporters, while expressing deep concern over the dilapidated condition of the road, have demanded a strict inquiry regarding it and exemplary punishment for those responsible for using sub-standard material for the construction and wasting precious resources and time by causing unusual delay in its completion.
It is important to note here that it is one of the busiest roads as one coaster leaves Kohat for Rawalpindi and other parts of Punjab every five minutes.
The assistant director of the Frontier Highways Authority, Mohammad Ayub, on being contacted claimed that the metalled road had been washed away “due to an unusually long spell of rains”. He said that he was not sure whether the repairs would last long because the inner surface of the road was still muddy which could not hold bitumen.
He said that the road could not be closed for work as it was one of the busiest and would result in creating more problems for the people, and added that diversion was not possible because there were mountains or densely-populated areas in the vicinity.
He said that following complaints about the extremely slow pace of work on the road the contract had now been awarded to KarKun but even it was facing hardships.
He said that the three-km-long section of the road near Gumbat could not be constructed as a hotel owner had refused to sell his land. He had gone to court and unless the case was decided they could not resume work.
He said that repair work of the newly-constructed Kohat-Rawalpindi road, which was opened for traffic just eight months ago, is expected to be completed in one month.
Replying to a question he said that work on the road from the Kohat Parachinar up to the Thall cantonment would begin in the next fiscal year as approved by the Asian Development Bank. He said that the Asian Development Bank had completed preliminary surveys in the area for the construction of a national highway which would connect Punjab with Afghanistan through Kohat and Parachinar.
Engineer Mohammad Ayub said that different teams of the Asian Development Bank had visited various villages on the Kohat Parachinar road and conducted community and environmental surveys and flouted tenders after declaring the project as feasible.
Tenders had been called for a 55-km-long road of the Kohat-Thall section-II and another 51-km-long road of the Kohat-Thall section-II. Many international construction firms had expressed interest in constructing the project. The last date for tenders expired on March 31 and as soon as the contractor finalized it work would start immediately.
He said that the Kohat and Parachinar roads would be constructed under the supervision of the National Highway Authority, and added that the tribesmen belonging to Orakzai and Kurram Agencies would also benefit from this project.
He said that similarly the PC-1 for the construction of a new bridge on the River Indus at Khushalgarh was in its final stage, and added that at present heavy vehicles could not pass through the 120-year-old narrow bridge which linked Punjab with the NWFP and its replacement was necessary keeping in view the future economic activity on this route.
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