ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) and National Highways Authority (NHA) have decided to hold a meeting on Friday in order to decide the issue regarding the construction of two underpasses on the Kashmir Highway.

The CDA and NHA – which is the executing agency for the metro bus track – have been at loggerheads regarding the construction of two underpasses on the Kashmir Highway so residents of some sectors of the federal capital do not face accessibility issues.

CDA had requested the NHA to construct underpasses in I-16 and I-17, where the future 16th and 17th avenues are to be constructed, so residents on both sides of the Kashmir Highway are connected. CDA officials Dawn spoke to said residents of G-16 and H-16 and G-17 and H-17 will also face accessibility issues as well as those of nearby areas.

The NHA has refused to construct the underpasses, saying it is not part of the PC-I for the construction of the metro corridors.

The CDA maintains that if a fully-grilled metro track is constructed, it will be difficult for the CDA to construct interchanges there in the future.

“We simply requested the NHA to construct the underpasses and that we will make the interchanges in the future when the need arises. But if they do not make the underpasses, we will have to block the metro corridors for the construction of the interchanges, which is not workable,” a CDA engineer said.

The NHA is conducting the project for constructing a 25.6 kilometre metro bus track at the cost of Rs16 billion from Peshawar Mor to the new Islamabad airport.

The issue has been taken up in several meetings of the Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat which recently directed the NHA to construct the underpasses. NHA and CDA officers will be meeting on Friday to come up with a workable solution.

“We will be meeting with CDA officials on Friday but the NHA has never given any assurance for the construction of the underpasses,” said NHA spokesperson Kashif Zaman.

CDA Member Planning Asad Mehboob Kayani, who will represent the CDA in the meeting, said he is hopeful that the issue will be resolved in the meeting.

“There is no other solution other than the construction of the underpasses,” he said, adding that the issue is a serious one on which NHA officials will be briefed during the meeting.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2018