GUJRAT: The allocation of a meagre amount in the next fiscal for Servis Mor Flyover over the railway track may cause a delay in completion of the project. However, the construction work on the much awaited flyover has been underway for the last few months.

As per the official documents, the provincial government has allocated only Rs108m for the project in the next fiscal year 2022-23 while Rs250 million were released in the current fiscal year out of the estimated cost of Rs1.02bn.

Official sources said the PML-N-led government in Punjab had issued the directions to the executing agencies against halting the ongoing uplift schemes, particularly the road projects, after which the contractor of Gujrat flyover was directed by the authorities to accelerate the pace of the work.

They added that in case of availability of enough funds, the project might get completed by the next six months. At least 46 out of the total 110 piles have been completed so far.

A team of experts of the highways department on Wednesday did technical tests of the piles by putting the maximum load on them.

The local business community has long been demanding the construction of flyover over the railway track to ease the traffic flow at the railway crossing to access the bypass from the GT Road. The one-kilometer-long flyover would connect the GT Road with the phase II of the industrial area and the bypass.

The project had been a part of a development package given to the PML-Q leadership for its constituencies in Gujrat by the PTI government. After the change of government in the province, the work on the project had slowed down but now it had gained momentum once again as construction of piles along the Old GT Road in front of Rescue 1122 main station is currently underway.

Deputy Commissioner Rizwan Qadeer told Dawn that he had made several inspections of the site. The contractor had been tasked to complete the project as soon as possible as the provincial government had already issued directions in this regard. The local business community has urged the Punjab government to release all the remaining funds for completion of flyover.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2022