HARIPUR, April 19: The Hattar road, a provincial government- funded project, has started deteriorating.

An extra load of heavy vehicular traffic was said to be responsible for the dilapidation of the road.

The 22km-long Hattar road, known as the Haripur-Taxila road, was a most busy road after the Karakuram Highway. It begins from the Swat Chowk Haripur and terminates at the Farooqia Phatak (Railway crossing) with a varying breadth of 22 to 30 ft.

The road was a shambles for a long time. The then provincial government of Sardar Mehtab Abbasi approved a project which was contracted to the Sid construction firm in 1999.

The firm completed work on 4km of the total 22-km length when the PML-N government was dismissed. The government of the sitting governor awarded a new contract, for remaining 18-km road, to the Frontier Works Organization (FWO) on three-year credit basis in 2000.

Under the agreement the executing agency had to complete the construction within one year, carry out its maintenance for next 12 months and collect Rs60 million out of Rs90 million (total cost of project) during the mandatory third year by setting up a toll plaza.

The provincial government had, however, disbursed Rs30 million to the FWO at the very outset. The work on the project was started in August 2001 and completed up to 95 per cent in October 2002.

Owing to the use of substandard material reportedly, the road started developing pits at a number of places.

The agency attributed the deterioration of the road to extra load of heavy traffic while the C&W sources termed it a result of substandard material.

“If they would not build the road, as per required standards, they would not be paid” said an official of C&W department on the condition of anonymity.

NAME CHANGED: The governing body of Sahara Development Foundation, Hattar, has changed the name of the foundation to Omar Asghar Khan Development Foundation (OAKF).