ISLAMABAD: Work on the delayed expansion of Korang Bridge project is in progress and is expected to be completed by the end of December.

This assurance was given out by Interior Minister Rana Sanullah last Thursday in the Senate.

Accepting that the Korang Bridge had faced delay, Mr Sanaullah said the project would take another four months to complete in reply to a question posed by Senator Fawzia Arshad.

The project was supposed to be completed in September last year, but the construction firm failed to meet the deadline.

The interior minister said the project was not completed in the stipulated 15 months time, adding that due to unprecedented price escalation in the construction material, the private contractor slowed down work. Later on the contract was awarded to the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) without change in cost with the completion period of four months.

Earlier, in March this year, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) had issued a notice to the contractor who was awarded the Korang Bridge expansion project on Islamabad Expressway.

The contractor had stopped work on the project earlier this year on the ground that price of construction material had increased. As per the PC-I, the project was supposed to be completed by December 2021, but the contractor missed the deadline. Later, he left the contract halfway and the CDA engaged the FWO for the remaining work.

The expressway is one of the busiest roads in the city which caters to both local and heavy traffic, particularly travelling to and from Lahore. The road is an important link between Punjab, Azad Kashmir, the northern areas and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

During the last two decades, a number of housing societies had come up along the expressway which had also contributed to an increase in traffic load. Every day, thousands of people use this road to drop their children to schools in the main city or go to their workplaces.

From Faisal Mosque to Koral, it has been widened, but people face a major bottleneck at Korang Bridge, where all of a sudden, the four-lane road converges into two, causing a major traffic jam. To remove this gridlock, the CDA awarded the said contract for widening of the bridge, which was now expected to complete in the next few months.

It is relevant to note here the said private company, which had won contract of Korang Bridge, had also won the contract of Rawal Dam Interchange on same day, but it did exactly the same thing with that project too, leaving it halfway. Later, the CDA had to engage the FWO for the remainder work of that project. Recently, the flyover of the project was completed and now the remaining work on the underpass and slip roads is expected to be completed in the next one month and so.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2022