ISLAMABAD: After being stalled for nearly four years, the construction work on the Kashmir Highway has finally been completed and the highway opened to traffic by the Capital Development Authority (CDA).

The bridge over railway lines at Golra has also been completed. Work on the bridge commenced in March and was completed in a record time of six months when most other development projects launched by the CDA faced delays.

Prominent among the projects facing delays are the underpasses at Faisal Avenue. Despite the end of the first quarter of the fiscal year, even the first phase of the project has not been completed.

“The delay in finishing the underpasses was mainly due to the changes to the designs as the federal government had suggested that the underpasses should accommodate more traffic in the future,” said an official of the CDA

However, another official said the projects had been affected due to the delay in the completion of the metro bus project.

“Half of the city is already disconnected due to trenches and blocks for the metro bus project. Commuters are also troubled by containers blocking roads since the sit-ins by political parties at Constitution Avenue started,” said an official, who requested anonymity. “If the CDA initiates other local development projects, there will be no road left for movement of traffic,” he said.

The metro bus project is also facing delays because of the sit-ins. The work requires clearing the areas occupied by the protesters. Besides, the capital territory administration has restricted the movement of heavy vehicles in Islamabad.

Apart from infrastructure development projects, CDA’s Islamabad bus service has also temporarily been shelved.

“Inviting any investor to operate a bus service in Islamabad will be futile as long as the Constitution Avenue is not cleared,” said the CDA official.

The civic body is also facing serious obstacles in various revenue generation activities, mainly due to the political situation, with the collection of funds from outdoor advertising etc. have nearly been halted.

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2014