ISLAMABAD: Two main road projects of Capital Development Authority (CDA) need special attention of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who laid the foundation of one of them and deferred the other in his previous tenure.

However, there has been no progress on these two projects - Serena Chowk interchange and 11th Avenue. Now, it is expected that the prime minister will push the civic agency for early start of work on the two projects.

On June 14 last year, Mr Sharif had laid the foundation stone of 11th Avenue; however, work on the road has not been started yet. The 5.8km portion of the road was supposed to start from E-11 and culminate at Karnal Sher Khan Road, formerly IJP Road.

CDA in July last year approved PC-I worth Rs19 billion with three years’ completion time of the project. However, tenders and requests for proposal (RFP) are yet to be called by CDA.

Shehbaz Sharif laid foundation of 11th Avenue but delayed start of work on Serena Chowk Interchange last year

An official of CDA, however, said the documentation was almost complete and soon the civic agency will go for calling RFP.

Asked about the poor financial condition of the civic agency and the requirement of the Rs19 billion for the project, the official said CDA had been working on various plans to generate funds. “Secondly, this is a three-year project so funding will be required in three years,” he said.

After the construction of 9th Avenue decades ago, the CDA could not construct any major road. Work on the construction of 10th Avenue was started last year with the federal government’s funding, but due to shortage of funds it remained very slow. Work on 11th Avenue is yet to be started.

Railcop had won the contract of the Serena Interchange project by submitting a lowest bid of Rs2.1 billion against National Logistics Cell’s bid of Rs3.5 billion.

The CDA had awarded the contract of the Serena Interchange to the government-owned company, but at the time of its inauguration the then prime minister refused to inaugurate it and left the venue after directing the CDA for a detailed briefing.

Later, the project remained unattended and the bid validity period also expired. Therefore, the CDA also returned the security deposit of the contractor, officially shelving the project.

“Had the PM laid the foundation of this project in June, it could have been completed by now,” said a motorist, Nasir Hussain, who complained of traffic congestion on a daily basis at the junction. He, however, said that now Shehbaz Sharif is back and it is expected that he would get the project launched at the earliest.

Traffic from different roads, including Constitution Avenue, Club Road (Murree Road), Srinagar Highway and Attaturk Avenue, among others, converges on this intersection, leading to congestion, particularly during peak hours, putting hundreds of commuters in great trouble on a daily basis.

Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2024