HARIPUR, Dec 20: The slow pace of construction of the Hattar-Taxila road by a government agency has created problems for motorists and also inflicted loss of millions of rupees to the national exchequer.

About 22-km-long strip of Hattar-Taxila road between Swat Chowk in Haripur and Farooqia Pathak (level crossing) was contracted out to the C&W, now renamed as Works & Services department (W&S), by the then provincial government of chief minister Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan Abbasi in 1999.

No sooner had the C&W completed the first phase of the road between Kangra Colony and Kotnajibullah than the government was dismissed. Later, the provincial government headed by the sitting governor gave the contract to the Frontier Works Organization for Rs120 million on build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis.

The FWO constructed the road and was about to set a toll plaza when it started crumbling and developed potholes. This invoked a strong criticism from the industrialist community of Hattar.

Office-bearers of the Industrialist Association of Hattar also met the governor, the chief minister and former prime minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali and complained about what they called use of sub-standard material in the road by the FWO.

The former PM promised to conduct probe into the matter. However, the matter was reportedly hushed up and the provincial government again opted to give the contract to the same agency for Rs120 million.

Meanwhile, the agency started removing the concrete upper layers of the road from Swat Chowk to Kangra and from Kangra to Hattar portions some two months back, but it did not complete the excavation work nor began carpeting.