Construction Of Kashmir Highway Delayed, Residents Troubled

[Salman]

Residents of Islamabad are facing traffic issues regularly on their way home and office as the Kashmir Highway continues to face the delay in its construction. The traffic on the road, especially on the stretch between Golra Turn and Peshawar Turn has been badly affected by this delay and the travellers have to go through this mental torture daily. Although Nadeem Hassan Asif, Chairman Capital Development Authority, has given a deadline to the contractors for completing the highway within a hundred days, reports are that the funds for the same have not been released by the Authority.

When CDA was contacted they gave a different version however. It was learnt that more than eighty percent of the total amount has been released for Section 2 and almost all the funds for Section 1 have already been released by the CDA, yet the progress is disappointing on both the sections. A two year agreement had been signed with the consultant firm that has already expired and more funds will be required to extend this agreement now. This will also increase the overall cost of the project.

This mega project was started in February 2011 and should have been completed by now had everything gone by the plan but unfortunately only 20% work has been completed so far on Section 1 and 40% on Section 2. It is the Section 2 that stretches from Peshawar Turn to Golra Turn. A drawing of a bridge that is to be constructed on a railway line was sent to the concerned department in the Pakistan Railways two years ago but no answer has yet been received from them. Railway has asked for fifty million rupees from CDA that have not been dispersed as yet and thus the construction of the bridge has been lingering on for the last two years