ISLAMABAD, Nov 24: The change in plan to construct a more expensive underpass at Kulsoom Plaza intersection instead of a cost-effective flyover, just to provide a clear view of the President’s House as well as the plaza, has doubled the project cost from Rs350 to a whooping Rs700 million, sources in the CDA said.

The estimated cost of the original plan (flyover) was stated to be Rs350 million, while the under-construction underpass would cost Rs700 million including Rs250 million to be spent on removal of underground cables, pipelines etc.

A senior CDA official, who was involved in preparation of the original plan, told Dawn requesting not to be named that the Prime Minister’s Secretariat and the Interior Ministry had strongly opposed the flyover plan at a high-level meeting for blocking the view of the Kulsoom Plaza as well as the President’s House.

The underpass being built at one of the busiest junctions of Islamabad is part of a mega project that envisages construction of three underpasses on Jinnah Avenue to make Islamabad Highway a fast moving track.

The sources said the completion time of the flyover and the underpass was almost same (six months), but the underpass project had been slowed down on account of the time-consuming task of removal of services. The project which started in June had to be completed by November, but now its completion date has been shifted to January 2007.

A CDA official said the contractor had removed all service lines coming in the way of the underpass, except for a gas line. “It is expected that the gas company would ask the CDA for more money to remove the huge pipeline that would be relaid in a loop around the underpass,” the official said.

He said the delay in shifting the main gas pipeline might further delay the project completion.

The 1.072km underpass would cross three roads — Jinnah Avenue, Fazl-i-Haq Road and Nazimuddin Road. According to a study conducted by Islamabad Traffic Police, over 80,000 vehicles passed through Kulsoom Plaza Chowk every day.