ISLAMABAD: Margalla Avenue, which was supposed to be completed in June 2013, remains unfinished seemingly due to disinterest on the part of the Capital Development Authority (CDA).

Construction on the project began in 2012, but it was stopped a few years ago when the CDA was unable to build a portion of the road near Shah Allah Ditta due to a centuries old graveyard, a shrine and the alignment of the road.

CDA engineers said that the alignment of the road should have been cleared before the project began, but the authority initiated it in haste. The nine kilometre road between the G.T. Road and D-12 has therefore remained incomplete, with 51pc of the work finished.

A CDA official said that if completed the project could relieve traffic congestion on Kashmir Highway and facilitate traffic from the G.T. Road heading towards Murree and Kashmir.

They said that if the road was even completed up to D-12 it could be connected to Khayaban-i-Iqbal, commonly known as Margalla Road, to get to Parliament House from where it would be connected to Murree Road via Bari Imam.

The official said a 2km portion of Margalla Road north of Constitution Avenue towards Bari Imam has already been built but has been abandoned for years because some of the work remains unfinished.

CDA officials said one of the main reasons for the delay in the completion of Margalla Avenue between the G.T. Road and D-12 is a dispute between the contractor and the CDA.

When work was stopped a few years ago, the contractor had filed a case against the CDA arguing that the CDA was responsible for clearing the land for the construction of the road and should therefore pay the contractor. The CDA has claimed the contract was cancelled for other technical reasons.

A court arbitrator fined the CDA Rs170 million, which the authority challenged in the Islamabad High Court.

CDA spokesperson Syed Safdar Ali said the case in the high court and “we are pursuing the case vigorously.”

He said the CDA is also working on proposals to remove the bottleneck in this project.

The CDA awarded a Rs588m contract for the project – 21pc below its estimated cost – but CDA officials said it was started in haste due to political pressure before necessary steps, such as land acquisition in some pockets of alignments, were completed.

The CDA had proposed changing the alignment of the road in an area where there was a bottleneck a few years ago, but sources said no serious efforts were made to remove the hindrance.

Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2019