KOHAT, Aug 20: The local business community and transporters have expressed concern over the delay in the approval of the Kohat-Rawalpindi road and a bridge on Indus river due to a tussle between the Punjab and the NWFP governments over the possession of the bridge.

The Punjab government is constantly neglecting the road project for the last two decades, terming it a useless plan. The business community, however, is of the view that after its construction the road will provide traders the shortest possible route to the eastern and southeastern provinces of Afghanistan and the Central Asian states.

They have also demanded that in view of the great rush on the train that runs between Rawalpindi and Kohat, extra coaches should be attached for the convenience of the passengers and transportation of goods.

A large number of people have started using train service due to the fare difference. The coasters charge Rs70 per passenger whereas the train fare is Rs45 which also provides a comfortable journey especially to the families.

The British rulers had laid railway tracks between Rawalpindi and the eastern borders with Afghanistan from defence point of view but soon the government suspended the train service between Kohat and Thall. After more than 100 years the importance of the track has again been felt for cheap transportation of goods to Afghanistan and there is a need to make it functional once again.

The business community of Kohat, Hangu, Thall, Parachinar, Orakzai Agency and Bannu uses the Rawalpindi road as more than 90 per cent of raw and furnished material is brought from Punjab.

The NWFP governor had ordered the widening and construction of Rawalpindi road from Cavagnari House up to Gumbat which was to be completed by September 2003. However, the contractor has been unable to complete even 40 per cent of the work as yet.

One of the reasons behind delay is that instead of completing the project in phases, the contractor has demolished a number of bridges to get an early payment from the Frontier Highway Authority.

It has been learnt that the contractor had complained that the FHA was not providing him the required heavy machinery to step up the pace of work. He had informed the government that the project would be delayed by six months and would now be completed in March 2004.

The other big problem is the 120-year-old iron bridge on the Indus river on the Rawalpindi road which poses great difficulty to trucks and buses as they stuck in the narrow entrances. The bridge had already been declared dangerous for train but the tussle between the Punjab and the NWFP governments over its possession is causing a delay in the construction of a new bridge.

Talking to Dawn, a member of the Planning Commission Malik Saeed Khan said he had sent a summary to the government for the construction of a dual road between Rawalpindi and Kohat with a proposal to federalize the project to settle the issue between the two provinces once and for all.

He said with the construction of a new road the business community would get the shortest route to Afghanistan and the Central Asian States.