HARIPUR: The construction of Haripur Bypass Road is likely to hit a snag due to the shortage of funds and the Pesco’s failure to remove high transmission lines from the project site.

Inaugurated in 2017, the 25km project has Noor Colony as its zero point on Khanpur Road and Mohra Mandiyan as the ending point. It is meant to join the GT Road meandering through Panian Maira, Meelam, Khalabat Township, Chappar Road and Gaar.

The project, which has directly connected 20 small and large villages of Haripur district with GT Road and Hazara Motorway, consists of three large bridges, three nullah bridges and flyovers each, four underpasses, a railway crossing, and three interchanges on Hattar, Dheenda and Tarbela roads.

Minister warns highway authorities, contractors of action in case of delay

Dec 2019 is the deadline for the construction of the road meant to reduce traffic load on GT Road, which gets choked during peak hours, especially during the summer season when tourists throng picnic spots in upper Hazara and Gilgit-Baltistan. Its initial cost was Rs4.7 billion, which surged to Rs9.686 billion due to the revision of PC-I and depreciation of rupee.

A visit to the project site revealed slow work from the zero point on Khanpur Road to Chapar Road and on main bridges and interchanges. The officials blamed it on the delayed disbursement of quarterly funds.

They said with around 70 percent of work completed on the project, the contractors awaited payment of Rs80 million.

The officials said they couldn’t fine contractors as the provincial highway authorities were to blame for not clearing their dues.

They also said the railways authorities had yet to approve the construction of a level-crossing near Hattar interchange, while the Pesco was delaying the shifting of transmission lines from the project site near Meelam and Qaziyan despite getting the due payments.

The officials said as the two stay orders secured by a former minister and a lawyer from the court of law had been vacated, there was hurdle to the project except funding.

The sources said the contractors could be asked to complete work only after their pending bills were cleared and the funds totaling Rs200-Rs300 million were released.

They feared that the project’s successful execution could be delayed up to six months beyond Dec 2019. When contacted, C&W minister Akbar Ayub Khan, who had initiated the project during the last PTI government, said the approved funding would be given away to the provincial highway authorities soon for both clearing dues and use.

He said he had already warned the highway authorities and contractors of action in case of delay in the project’s completion.

The minister said the project would be completed within the stipulated time to promote tourism in both Haripur and parts of upper Hazara.

He said work on the road strip between Chappar bridge to the end of Mohra Mandiyan was in final stage and would be completed soon.

Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2019