ISLAMABAD: Instead of removing bottlenecks in a much awaited road project on the foothills of Margalla, the city managers plan to link the artery from Grand Trunk (GT) Road with Murree Expressway.

The Margalla Avenue project was behind schedule by two years as it was started in 2012 and was to be completed in June 2013. So for almost half of the work on the project has been done.

“The project is facing delay due to various reasons, such as a century old graveyard near Shah Allah Ditta which has brought the work to a halt,” said Member Engineering CDA, Shahid Sohail.

Apart from this, he said, the contractor of the project had gone into arbitration against the Capital Development Authority (CDA) seeking compensation for the loss the delay cost him.

“While planning the project, the officers concerned should have taken the graveyard into view. It seems that they planned the project without even visiting the area,” said a senior official of the CDA.

The CDA board, which met the other day with Chairman Maroof Afzal in the chair decided to extend the project from Constitution Avenue to Murree Expressway, which starts from satra meel. The meeting was attended by Member Engineering Shahid Sohail, Member Administration Amir Ahmed Ali, Member Environment Syed Mustafain Kazmi and others. The board also approved hiring of consultancy services for planning and designing.

When contacted the CDA spokesman Ramzan Sajid claimed that the current management had decided to complete the entire project in shortest possible time.

“We have decided to expedite the ongoing work from G.T. Road to Constitution Avenue and later on we will start the next phase from Constitution Avenue to Murree Expressway,” he said and added the board had given go-ahead to the authority to hire consultancy services for phase III.

When asked why the CDA board approved the next phase when first two phases of Margalla Avenue have been lying incomplete, the spokesman said: “Since consultancy work is time consuming process as it involves several issues such as PC-I design, etc., the board approved its (consultancy) hiring well before time, ” he said.

Besides approving Margalla Avenue’s consultancy, the board also approved uniform planning parameters for new commercial buildings in Blue Area extension.

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2015

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