RAWALPINDI: About 16 months after the inauguration of the Rs44.8 billion metro bus project, potholes that have emerged on Murree Road have raised questions about the quality of work on the project.

The federal and Punjab governments launched the metro bus project in March 2014, under which an elevated road – measuring 8.6 kilometres from Saddar to Faizabad and 10 kilometres in Islamabad at-grade, and a four kilometre trench on a 50:50 cost-sharing basis.

Murree Road from Saddar to Faizabad was re-carpeted and drainage systems were constructed along the road under the project. The provincial government awarded contracts to three companies.

However, potholes emerged on Murree Road soon after the metro bus service’s inauguration in June last year, and motorists found it difficult to use the road during rush hours for this reason.

A visit to Murree Road from Saddar to Marrir Chowk reveals potholes, as well as raised manhole covers that are not level with the road itself.

A senior official from the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) told Dawn that the executing agency failed to monitor the quality of construction after the project was inaugurated.

“The contractor of the portion of the road from Saddar to Committee Chowk completed the re-carpeting of Murree Road after the completion of the bridge over Leh Nullah at Rialto Cinema, and some parts of the road are left,” he said.

He said it was the duty of the execution body to repair all the faults in the project, including work that had been left out or construction that needed repairs, as per the agreement between the government and the contractor.

RDA chief engineer Ather Hussain Bukhari denied the presence of potholes on the road and said all the work on the metro bus project had been completed and handed over to the Metro Bus Authority.

He said some work regarding the drainage system was being carried out and would be completed soon, but there was no remaining work to be done regarding the carpeting of the road and no potholes had emerged.

When contacted, a member of the Punjab chief minister’s committee for the metro bus project, Malik Shakil Awan, said he would look into the matter and have the work repaired by the contractor as soon as possible.

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2016