RAWALPINDI: After the departure of Dr Tahirul Qadri and his supporters from the Constitution Avenue, the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) on Thursday requested the Islamabad administration to allow it to resume work on the metro bus project from Shaheed-i-Millat to the Pakistan Secretariat.

The construction work on the project in the Red Zone was suspended after the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) started their sit-ins over two months ago.

A senior official of the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) told Dawn that the government had also asked the executing agency to make an assessment of the additional funds which the contractors had claimed due to the delay in the project.

He said the RDA had asked the contractor to restart the work from Shaheed-i-Millat to Secretariat but the latter was waiting for the clearance of the site by the Capital Development Authority (CDA).

Rubbish left behind by marchers must first be cleared from the site

However, he said, the contractor was told to get the site cleared on its own as it was not the responsibility of the CDA.

He said work on the Peshawar Mor Interchange was also progressing at a slow pace.

It may be mentioned that the provincial government had fixed January 2015 as the deadline to complete the project. But the sit-ins in Islamabad caused the delay as the contractors could not transport the construction material to the site due to the closure of the roads.

However, the delay in the construction of a bridge over the Leh Nullah at Moti Mahal in Rawalpindi was the fault of the contractor and the consultant concerned, the official added.

He said the consultant marked a wrong place for the construction of the bridge’s pillars and when the RDA bought the land from the military it (consultant) took back his decision. “It took more than one month to convince the military authorities to replace the land near the Moti Mahal Cinema,” he said.

When contacted, Commissioner Rawalpindi Zahid Saeed said the contractor would take a week to clear the site of the project from Blue Area to the Constitution Avenue which was filled with waste left behind by the participants of the PAT sit-in.

He said the two main components of the projects at this site were the construction of an underpass from Parade Lane to the Secretariat and a bus station outside the Secretariat.

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2014