ISLAMABAD: It appears that since inaugurating the billions of rupees worth metro bus project, authorities have lost interest in completing the Peshawar Mor Interchange, a major component of the project.

According to the original plan, the G-9 interchange was not part of the project was added later, taking the cost of the project from Rs6.17 billion to Rs44.21 billion.

The completion of the interchange continues to face delays and work is continuing at a very slow pace, causing inconvenience to residents of the twin cities.

A student Mohammad Taimor, standing near the site, said that the government was eager to inaugurate the metro bus service but since then it has lost interest in the interchange.

“The contractor seems to have been left to his own devices,” he said.

The interchange, a five billion rupee project, was constructed at the junction of Kashmir Highway and 9th Avenue, where thousands of vehicles ply each day. The construction work on the interchange has badly disrupted the flow of traffic.

“To reach Peshawar Mor from 9th Avenue, we have to take a long turn every day form Karachi Company via FDE and PWD,” said Allahdad Khan, a Suzuki driver.

In addition to motorists, office goers and students, residents of sector G-9 also facing immense difficulties because the electricity supply is frequently suspended.

“The residents of this sector have become accustomed to hours without electricity because the construction work causes faults in electricity supply,” said Nasir Khan, a resident of G-9/4.

He said that whenever IESCO office is contacted for the registration of a complaint, they are told that transmission lines are being laid at the construction site.

A senior CDA official, who is part of a coordination team between CDA and Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA), told Dawn that initially the metro bus project, including Peshawar Mor Interchange, was supposed to be completed by December 2014.

“However, overall the project faced delays,” he said.

Later, it was announced that the Peshawar Mor Interchange would be completed by March 23 but no progress was made, he said.

“Now the latest deadline is October 18 but looking at the pace of work, it appears that even this deadline would be missed,” he added.

Commissioner Rawalpindi Zahid Saeed, who is the project director, admitted that completion of the interchange at Peshawar Mor has faced delays. However, he said, he is optimistic that the interchange would be complete by the October 18, deadline given by the contractor.

“The interchange is not directly a party of the metro bus project, which is why we did not focus on it in the first phase. Now our full attention is on the interchange,” he said.

The commissioner said that according to his knowledge, 60 per cent of work has been completed.

“Actually, there was an issue between NLC and Nespak over the design of the interchange, which took three months. However, the issue has been resolved and now we are hopeful for a timely completion of the project,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2015

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