ISLAMABAD: Cracks have developed on a patch of the newly-built Margalla Avenue, which is yet to be formally inaugurated.

The road from G.T. Road to D-12 has been opened for traffic, however, it is yet to be formally inaugurated as some work is still pending, including a 700-metre portion of the road.

During a visit to the site, it was noticed that cracks have developed on both sides of the road near Shah Allah Ditta underpass, raising questions over compaction of the road.

However, CDA’s Member Engineering Syed Munawar Shah said development of cracks on newly-built roads was a routine matter. He said the road was still incomplete as its 700-metre portion was not yet ready.

“So far, handing/taking over of the road has not been done. But we opened it to facilitate the public. The cracks in questions will be redone within a few days. Actually, in this portion of the road, we had to make 10 to 12 feet filling,” he said, adding except the small portion of some feet the entire road was state of the art.

Official says incomplete road opened tofacilitate commuters

“From G.T. Road to D-12 you will see no issue. It is one of the best roads. In next few days, the cracks in questions will be repaired,” he said.

The member said that a few days ago he along with the CDA chairman visited the site and directed the contractor to resolve the issue.

The 10.4-km-long Margalla Road from G.T. Road to D-12 has been built by Frontier Works Organisation (FWO).

Meanwhile, from D-12, another portion of around five km is being constructed up to E-11, where an interchange is also being built.

The CDA is executing the project through another contractor - National Logistics Cell (NLC). The project worth around Rs3.9 billion also has five culverts and an interchange at E-11 and is supposed to be completed in six months.

The CDA has around five sectors - C-13, C-14, C-15 and C-16 - at the length of the Margalla Avenue. After opening of the road, the value of CDA’s sector has increased manifold. The civic agency has been paying full focus on these sectors as after major anti-encroachment operations recently, CDA removed over 1,000 illegal houses/structures (without roof) which had been built by locals to get developed plots from the CDA under the so-called Built up Property (BuP) cases.

However, last week during a visit to the road, the CDA chairman spotted the structures, particularly in C-13, and reprimanded the officials for their failure in removing them. He suspended the concerned gardawar and patwari for allegedly supporting people in raising such structures. In the following three days, an operation was conducted and the structures were removed.

Meanwhile, the CDA also decided to sell 800 plots in C-14 and C-16 exclusively to overseas Pakistanis through balloting likely to be held next month.

Officials of the engineering wing said cracks appeared because of a compaction issue and the road will be redone.

“Redoing the road is responsibility of the contractor. The project is still incomplete and even after completion and proper handing/taking over of the road, the contractor is responsible during the defect liability period,” said the officials.

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2023