ISLAMABAD: The widening of the remaining portion of Islamabad Expressway could not be started as despite the directives of former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, the federal government did not release Rs1 billion in the fiscal year 2017-18.

Besides, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) is yet to complete the Khana Interchange.

The interchange, which is a part of the previous phase of the mega project, was supposed to be completed before June but sources in the CDA said it was expected to be ready in about three months.

Govt did not release Rs1bn in previous fiscal year as directed by ex-PM, says CDA

In April this year, the then prime minister had directed the Ministry of Finance to release Rs1bn as a token amount in the financial year 2017-18 to start the widening of the highway from Koral to G.T. Road. The remaining Rs9.7bn were to be given to the CDA through the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).

The PC-I of the project from Koral onward is yet to be approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec). “Despite our efforts, the finance ministry is yet to release the token amount of Rs1bn to start work on the project,” CDA spokesman Malik Saleem told Dawn. He said the CDA had already shortlisted 10 firms for starting work on the project.

About Khana Interchange, he said 80pc work had been completed and the remaining would be done in three months.
“We have opened one side of the interchange to traffic and work is ongoing on the other sides and components,” he said.

In May this year, the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) had approved the signal-free Islamabad Expressway extension project from Koral to G.T. Road worth Rs10.7bn.

The CDWP had then referred the project to Ecnec for a final approval. Ecnec is the forum to approve projects worth over Rs3bn.

Former CDA chairman Usman Bajwa in March this year had requested the then prime minister for a grant of Rs10.7bn to complete the project. In the first phase, the expressway has been made signal-free and widened from Zero Point to Koral Interchange. In the next two phases, the highway is to be widened up to Rawat.

The former prime minister had decided to fund the project through the PSDP. As a result, the CDA had to revise the original PC-I and get it approved from CDWP and then Ecnec.

In response to the CDA chairman’s request, the Prime Minister Office had stated that the Ministry of Finance had been directed to release Rs1bn in the financial year 2017-18 as a supplementary development grant to allow the CDA to initiate the work.

An amount of Rs7bn has been allocated for the project in the 2018-19 PSDP and Rs2.75bn will be set aside in the 2019-20 PSDP.

Initially, the highway will be expanded from Koral Interchange to Naval Anchorage, a five km stretch, while the seven km distance from Naval Anchorage to G.T. Road in Rawat will be constructed in the the next phase.

According to the PM’s directive, the CDA is supposed to complete the first package by June 2019 and the second by Sept 30, 2019. But an engineer working with the CDA said the project could not be completed in the given deadlines.

“The project from Zero Point to Koral was started in 2015 but still could not be completed as Khana Bridge is yet to be made ready. So it is difficult to say the next phase will be competed in the stipulated time,” an engineer said.

Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2018