RAWALPINDI, Nov 17: Hasty completion of the Committee Chowk underpass project speaks volumes for poor standard of construction. Talking to Dawn, in charge project Riaz Akhtar Khan admitted that there were many construction flaws.

Asked for reasons, the official said they had proposed a timeframe of 120 days to the provincial government for the completion of project but the latter insisted on its completion within 90 days. "Obviously, we had to rush through and there were several problems, which we had to encounter because of the deadline."

Despite the haste by the department concerned for meeting the 90 days deadline the underpass is by no means complete. The tiles plastered on the curved and uneven walls of the underpass have already started coming off. The plaster of the traffic signal posts has also started falling and the footpaths and service roads are also in a pathetic shape.

Heaps of construction material are lying all over the place hindering the smooth flow of traffic. Clouds of dust make it difficult for people to even breath. Mr Khan's only answer to all these problems was that cosmetics had yet to be done. "We are yet to install the cat's eyes and do lane-marking. It is all because of workmanship."

In a message circulated by the provincial government's public relations department, it was stated that the completion of the project was the "positive" proof of Chief Minister Ch Pervez Illahi's stress on time saving and money-saving culture. The statement claimed that the underpass had been constructed according to international standards.

Talking to Dawn, Deputy Superintendent of Traffic Police Matloob Hussain said the number of lanes in the underpass were simply not enough to absorb the traffic load on such an important road having a daily traffic count of 1,28,000 vehicles. He said there should have been at least 3 lanes.

He claimed that the traffic police department had submitted this suggestion at the time the underpass was being planned, but it was ignored. Superintendent of Traffic Police Sabir Ahmed sounded a bit more positive. He said things would improve once the underpass was fully operational.

But in sharp contrast to his optimism, there were long queues of vehicles just before the underpass on Tuesday when most of the businesses were closed because of Eid holidays and public transport was yet return to this route.