KOHAT, July 14: The National Highway Authority has asked Siemens company to complete renovation of Kohat tunnel by September 2012, in pursuance of the Peshawar High Court orders in this regard, sources said.

The exhaust and lighting system of the 1.85 kilometre tunnel was destroyed in 2011 in a suicide bomb blast and since then passengers were being subjected to nuisance of travelling through the dark and suffocating tunnel filled with poisonous gases.

An official of the NHA engineering branch confided to Dawn that huge explosives were detonated inside the tunnel by militants on April 15, 2009 and January 29, 2011, which blew up imported jet fans and lights of the tunnel. The major damage to the tunnel was caused in 2011 blast in which eight people were also killed.

The tunnel was still under the control of army who were managing its security due to threats from militants to blow it up if supply of weapons through it was not stopped to tribal areas of Waziristan, Orakzai and Kurram agencies.

The NHA official said that officials of National Accountability Bureau visited the tunnel recently and they were briefed by the NHA about causes of delay in the renovation work. The NAB would submit its findings to the chief justice of Peshawar High Court.

He said that that the NHA had now asked the Siemen’s company to complete the work within two months.

Earlier, the government was hesitant to renovate the tunnel because of clashes in nearby tribal area of Darra Adamkhel. It is important to note that half of the tunnel was located in Darra area and the Japanese staff which was constructing it had once stopped working and left Kohat due to war on terror in 2002.

Besides, the company to which the tenders had been awarded was delaying import of 100 lights and seven jet fans which would be shipped to Pakistan from Australia and Italy, the official stated.

He said that three jet fans were in working condition, but these could not suck out the whole smoke gathered inside the tunnel and it was necessary that all fans should work at the same time.

He said that work on installation of 1,100 lights was in progress and the company would complete the renovation by September.