Delayed road to be dug up again

[Salman]

Delayed road to be dug up again

LAHORE – Water and Sanitation Agency will again dig the Allama Iqbal Road for laying another sewerage pipeline despite of the fact that project of road has already been delayed due to lethargy of Wasa authorities, sources informed TheNation on Monday.

The authorities concerned are laying new sewerage pipeline without inviting tenders which is a sheer violation of rules and rules and regulations and laws concerned while the higher authorities failed to take notice of such infraction by the authorities concerned or holding any inquiry in this regard in order to dig out the real causes of the delay in project, they added.

The sources further informed this scribe that the new sewerage pipeline would be laid from Allama Iqbal Road to Infantry Road for draining out the waste water of surrounding localities of the road which although earlier was part of the plan but personal liking and disliking of the Wasa authorities especially Deputy Managing Director Naveed Pervaiz (in charge of the project) regarding purchase of pipes was the reason behind the delay in completion of project to be completed in the first week of March 2012.

The sources further said that the officer wanted to lay high density polyethylene pipes sized 24 inches for personal benefits, which is another cause of delay in completion of the project. They said that he was very much interested to purchase above mentioned pipes because of big margin.

Refereeing to already laid such 24 inches sized pipeline at Link Model Town Road at a cost of Rs 8054.03 per foot by the officer while the pipeline manufacturing company offers Rs 4015 per foot and Rs 4252 ex-Lahore rate without bargain on price.

Some contractors disclosed that they used to buy such pipe from the Kotri (Sindh) based company Hi-Tech in Rs 3400 per foot. Now he purchased the pipes with the rates approved by the Directors of the Wasa for the Link Model Town Road. They further said that DMD Wasa is very influential person as he personally claimed proudly that he has close and personal relations with the higher authorities including Wasa Managing Director Dr Javed Iqbal, former DCO and sitting Lahore Development Authority Director General Ahad Cheema and Hamza Shahbaz Sharif. That is why he considered himself ‘above the law’. He is also brother-in-law of Tahir Saddique, PML-Q Additional Secretary General and relative of Pakistan People’s Party leader Mian Azizur Rehman.

Sources in Wasa told TheNation that the Allama Iqbal Road project could have been completed in time but unfortunately such kind of officers and the poor monitoring mechanism of the government and the departments concerned are the main reason behind the delay of the projects. They said that now he delayed the project because he was interested in giving the disposal force main line of 24 inch HDPE pipe without tender to his an eye-blued company.

It may be mentioned here that the HDPE pipes rates upto 16 inch fall in the scheduled rates, approved and fixed by the government while the rates of 24 inch pipes do not fall in the category of scheduled pipes and might be purchased from any manufacturing company/factory after bargain.

When contacted, Wasa Managing Director Dr Javed Iqbal said that Wasa has completed its pipeline laying project at Allama Iqbal Road and handed over the control to the City District Government.

However, he admitted that the pipeline laying from Allama Iqbal Road to Infantry Road is still underway and digging work would be completed soon. However, he was reluctant to comment on the real causes of delay of the project and purchase of HDPE pipeline.