RAWALPINDI, Oct 13: Officials of the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) have criticized the Planning and Development (P&D) department for awarding the contract of the Rs70 million Committee Chowk underpass project to the Communication and Works Department (C&W).

The officials on condition of anonymity told Dawn on Monday that they had been expecting till the last moment to get the contract. They said the planning and traffic engineering section of the RDA had designed the project and, therefore, it was RDA’s right to get the contract.

“As the RDA has to run the affairs of the city it has also to bear the consequences of any substandard construction work, they added.

In 1998-99, they added, the contract of Murree Road had also been awarded to the C&W, which left the work incomplete at the initial stage. Later, the RDA had to supervise the work.

Meanwhile, Chairman P&D Mohammad Humayoon Farshoori told Dawn on phone from his Lahore office that he did not know much about the project.

He said one of his subordinates, Shaikh Abdul Ghafoor, was dealing with the project and could explain the position. However, Mr Ghafoor was not available for comments.