BANNU, Aug 28: A number of roads, under-construction for more than a year, have now become a nuisance for the public as the work is either stalled or is going on at a slow pace at various sites here.

Four projects - Bannu Township-Indus Highway link road, Chungi- Township Road, Bannu City-Taji Kala Road and Nizam Bazaar-Torka Basiakhail Road - started in July 2003 were to be completed in one year.

Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani, who also expressed displeasure over the pace of work, had directed the FHA chief during a visit to Bannu to accelerate the pace of work on the projects, sources said.

The 25-kilometre-long Bannu Township-Indus Highway link road, which has two bridges, is estimated to cost Rs180 million. Only five kilometre portion of this road has been blacktopped so far.

The Chungi-Township Road dualization project would be completed at a cost of Rs98.9 million. The work is so slow that only two-kilometre portion of this road has been metalled so far.

There are three bridges on the 8.5-kilometre-long road which are also lying incomplete. The construction firm has, however, been paid Rs40 million of the estimated cost, officials said.

The work on Bannu City-Taji Kala Road, which is estimated to cost Rs189.7 million, progresses at a snail's pace too, and only 25 per cent work has been completed during the past one year. A sum of Rs47.2 million of the total cost has already been paid to the contractor.

The Nizam Bazaar-Torka Basiakhel Road project is also running behind the schedule.

As this road passes through villages, it has created a lot of difficulties for the people.

The residents of the area told this reporter that the contractors had abandoned the work after digging it for laying the sub-base, which caused a lot of pollution.

The four projects have only one asphalt plant in the Township area and only one paver machine. "If we had two paver machines, the work would have been accelerated," an official said.

He said, "We have paid Rs5 million to PTCL for optic fibre cable. We have also paid to Wapda for shifting the poles."