RAWALPINDI: It’s now official that the metro bus will not hit the road on January 31. But the provincial government is reluctant to give a new date for the launch of the service.

Commissioner Zahid Saeed told Dawn that the construction work on package-I (Saddar to Committee Chowk), package-III (6th Road to Faizabad), package-I (Faizabad to 9th Avenue), package-II (Peshawar Mor), package-III (Peshawar Mor to Centaurs) and package-IV (Centaurs to Shaheed-i-Millat Road) was likely to complete by February 10.

So the hardship of the residents would continue as they would have to use the broken and dilapidated roads for the next two or even more months.

“The government failed to provide any alternative route and forced us to travel on broken and dug-up roads,” said Mohammad Zulqernain, a resident of Waris Khan.

Roads will remain dilapidated for at least two more months

“The rain created more mess in the city as the water puddles and slushy mess made it impossible for the commuters to use the roads even on foot or on motorbikes,” said Ashar Ali from Ammarpura.

“When this project will complete and we will be able to use the roads without any hurdle? The government also did not adopt safety measures during the construction of the elevated road,” he said. Ayaz Ahmed, a resident of G-6/2, complained that his motorcycle slipped on the muddy road from Saudi-Pak Tower to Faisal Avenue.

“The project will take more than three months to complete as the contractors are still digging for the construction of an underpass on Constitution Avenue,” he said.

The project managers as well as the Punjab government are confused to give a new date for the launch of the metro bus service. Besides, the 65 buses for the launch of the project are yet to arrive from China.

On Wednesday, Commissioner Saeed briefed Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on the hurdles to complete the corridor from Saddar to Pakistan Secretariat and also informed him about a tussle between the project consultant, Nespak, and the National Logistics Cell (NLC), one of the contractors.

The chief minister was informed that the NLC could not complete the work from Committee Chowk to 6th Road and on the Peshawar Mor section.

“There is a dire need to enhance the number of labour force and machinery in these packages, especially in Rawalpindi. The slow pace of work and the tussle between Nespak and the NLC over drawings of some portions left the work incomplete,” he said.

The NLC claimed that cranes could not be used at the congested Waris Khan, Naz Cinema and adjoining areas for fixing girders so the work had to be done there manually.

The chief minister was also informed that the NLC was not happy over the late handing over of drawings of the corridor to the contractor by Nespak. The consultant failed to complete the drawings and made changes to it without taking the contractors on board. The commissioner said Nespak also mentioned a wrong site for the Moti Mehal bridge over Leh Nullah and when the work was started it stopped the work to fix the fault. He said on the advice of the consultant, the government also procured a wrong land from the military and later it had to purchase another piece of land which delayed the work.

“The RDA and the provincial government officials will inspect the construction site on January 31 to assess the project and fix the new date for the launch of the metro service,” Hanif Abbasi, the chairman of the Punjab Chief Minister’s implementation and monitoring committee on metro bus project, told Dawn. He also said the chief minister would visit the project site within a few days. He said the January 31 deadline was fixed to speed up the work otherwise the contractors would have gone ahead slowly.

“The PTI and PAT sit-ins outside the parliament house delayed the project by at least three months,” he said.

However, PTI Punjab Vice President and former district nazim Raja Tariq Kiani said the sit-in was staged by his party outside the parliament house in Islamabad and the local administration was responsible for the slow pace of work of the mega project.

“The local residents are facing problems for the last one year due to the ill-planned work. They have been provided no alternative route,” he said.

Published in Dawn, January 23rd, 2015

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