May 24, 2007	Thursday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 07, 1428

MUZAFFARGARH, May 23: The company engaged in construction of a new four-lane bridge over the Chenab has said it will not be able to complete the project with in the stipulated time, blaming the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) for the delay.

Talking to Dawn on Wednesday, company’s project manager Sajjad Ali said the project could not be completed by August 2007 because the construction work on the bridge was thrice interrupted because of the rising water level in the river about which Irsa should have informed in advance.

He said due to Irsa’s negligence not only precious time was lost but the company had also to suffer a loss of Rs250 million in terms of wastage of material and damage to the machinery.

He said the company had served a notice to the National Highway Authority (NHA), Punjab, seeking compensation for the loss.

He said the company was working under the supervision of NESPAK consultants and they were satisfied with its performance.

The bridge was planned keeping in view the massive traffic volume which burdened the old bridge. The old bridge used to cater to heavy traffic pouring in from Sindh, Balochistan and the NWFP, often resulting in congestions and jams.

To resolve the issue, the NHA Punjab awarded the contract to the company in Feb 2005 for the construction of a new four-lane bridge for Rs840 million. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz laid the foundation stone of the bridge in May 2005.

NHA, Punjab, general manager Khalid Naeem said the authority would not pay any compensation amount to the construction company as losses were included in the estimated cost of such big projects.