ISLAMABAD: The cost of Bhara Kau bypass has witnessed an increase of roughly Rs1.5 billion as it was completed by spending Rs8 billion against the PC-I approval of Rs6.5 billion.

According to officials of the CDA, the cost increased as the scope of the project was extended. They said during the construction of the bypass, the scope of the project was expanded and new necessary items were included that led to the increase in the cost.

Sources said the contractor, National Logistics Cell (NLC), which executed the project, demanded from CDA an amount of Rs1.8 billion against the extra work which it had done on the request of the civic agency.

The sources said the CDA referred the proposed bill to the consultant for a third-party validation and the consultant firm of Punjab government also endorsed the extra work and recommended approval of Rs1.5 billion.

Now, the CDA will take up the matter with NLC to inform it about the consultant’s recommendations.

On the other hand, sources said, because of the extra work and the bill issue, the CDA was not moving forward to start the minor ancillary work on the bypass - repair and overhauling of Murree Road beneath the flyover (which was not part of the original contract).

“Actually, we want to settle the extra work issue first with NLC. Once we clear their dues, we will ask them to do the repair work on Murree Road and liking underpasses,” said an official of CDA.

He said since this work was not part of the agreement and CDA could go for a new contractor, but “since NLC executed the project and completed it in record time, we want to get these small work also done from it in a shortest time.”

He said soon the issue of extra work will be resolved after which the CDA will ask the NLC to start the work.

It is relevant to note here that recently National Highway Authority (NHA) asked the CDA to repair and overhaul a portion of Murree Road which was damaged during construction of Bhara Kahu bypass.

The NHA is the custodian of Murree Road while CDA is the owner of Bhara Kahu bypass. During construction of the bypass, a portion of Murree Road beneath the flyover was damaged.

Similarly, the underpasses of the bypass road are also not connected with each other because the service roads on both sides are yet to be constructed.

The sources said that people have been complaining about the dilapidated and bumpy condition of the road. Perturbed over the complaints, the NHA recently called a meeting of the CDA officials and asked them for the repair work.

The bypass was a pet project of Shehbaz Sharif-led PDM government and was completed in 10 months because of personal interest of then prime minister who inaugurated it a few days before completion of his tenure in July this year.

Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2023