CDA decides to restart work on Kashmir Expressway project

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

Friday, December 04, 2009
Mobarik A. Virk

Islamabad

The Capital Development Authority (CDA) Thursday decided to re-initiate the stalled project of Kashmir Expressway.

CDA Chairman Imtiaz Inayat Elahi has directed the Engineering Wing to kick-start the process of pre-qualification of contractors-firms fit to execute the Rs2 billion mega project.

Sources in the CDA told ‘The News’ that the chairman had a briefing on the project from the Engineering Wing on Wednesday and directed them to complete the basic formalities for the bidding process to award the contract.

The project is being undertaken by the CDA as a Public Sector Development Project with 50 per cent funding by the government and was supposed to be launched back in 2008. However, because of insufficient funds released by the government as well as the financial constraints that the CDA was passing through at that time, the project was delayed.

It is learnt that now the government has allocated Rs300 million for the project in the budget and the chairman of the authority has directed to launch this project at a time when the work will keep going till the time next year’s budgetary allocations for this project are allocated and made available.

A senior official in the CDA informed that there was a proposal under consideration as well to divert some funds available with the CDA, originally allocated for some other projects, towards the Kashmir Expressway project to meet the financial requirements. A formal request in this connection is being made to the government for diversion of those funds to the Kashmir Expressway project.

The 24-month project includes expansion of existing two-lane double carriageway into a five-lane expressway after addition of one soft and two rigid lanes on each side, linking the GT (Grand Trunk) Road, the Motorway (M-1/M-2). In the first phase an 11-km stretch from GT Road-Motorway link to Peshawar Morr (9th Avenue) would be constructed.

Earlier, the CDA chairman had told ‘The News’ that newly constructed and yet to be made operational most modern toll plaza on the Kashmir Highway is likely to cause some problems while expanding the existing two-lane into five-lane expressway. “I have spoken to the people in the Engineering Wing and they are abreast of the situation. They have been directed to make necessary changes in the design at that particular point to prevent it becoming a bottleneck in the project,” he said.

Sources in the Engineering Wing of the authority told ‘The News’ that this construction of 11-km Kashmir Expressway may be divided into three segments, each awarded to a different contractor, to ensure maximum deployment of men and machine force.

“This will certainly expedite the work on the project because there will not only be a much bigger workforce engaged on the project, but there will also be a sense of competition amongst the different contractors to complete their part of the project expeditiously,” the source said.

CDA spokesman when contacted, told ‘The News’ that once completed this project will help ensure a smooth flow of traffic on this stretch benefiting not only the motorists disembarking from the M-1 and M-2 Motorway or the GT Road, but will also facilitate the people commuting to and fro Rawalpindi-Islamabad on daily basis from Rawalpindi, the ‘I’ and ‘H’ series sectors on the southern side and the ‘G’ series sectors on the north, especially G-12, G-13, G-14 too which are fast developing and inhabitants have already started moving in.