RAWALPINDI: Further delay in the start of work on the Kutchery Chowk remodeling project worth Rs6.4 billion may escalate its cost to Rs8 billion.

A senior official of the district administration feared that if the project was not started in this fiscal year, its cost would further go up. The cost of the project escalated from Rs4.879 billion to Rs6.422 billion in the last two years due to a 25pc increase in the construction material prices, he added.

He said the project cost was estimated in November last year and after this the cost of construction material and petroleum prices increased manifold.

He said the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) will have no option but to surrender the Rs1 billion fund released for the project in the current fiscal year as it was not yet utilised.

He said a meeting of the district and garrison authorities will held on Thursday (May 4) to review the project and a final decision will be made whether or not to start work in the current fiscal year.

“The RDA awarded the contract to Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) and asked it to submit a traffic plan so construction work will not disturb the routine traffic,” he said.

He said the meeting of the district and garrison authorities would also discuss the traffic plan submitted by the contractor.

On the other hand, a senior RDA official was of the view that the project was not likely to be launched in this fiscal year as the district administration was yet to acquire the land for the construction of a flyover and an underpass.

“Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU)’s historical building formerly known as Prince Mansion, which served as Presidency, and the State Guest House will also lose its 46 marlas while the adjoining Commissioner House and other district administration buildings will not be affected by it,” he said.

He said the administration had failed to start initial work on the acquisition of land which would take more than a month and the fiscal year will end on June 30. “It is not possible to complete the homework within one or two months,” he said.

According to the project, a 2+2 lane flyover will be constructed for Rawat to Saddar-bound traffic, two-lane flyover for Marrir to Rawat traffic, two-lane exit ramp for Rawat to the old airport-bound traffic and Rawat to Marrir-bound traffic.

A 2+2 lane underpass for the airport to Saddar-bound and an underpass for Iftikhar Janjua Road to the airport-bound traffic would also be constructed.

Under the project, a flyover will be constructed to cater to traffic coming from Rawat after the construction of Kharian Motorway which will be connected to Grand Trunk Road and the Rawalpindi Ring Road project. It will provide an easy access to 131,500 vehicles per day. However, in the previous design, the remodeling catered to only 100,000 vehicles a day.

When contacted, RDA Director General Saif Anwar Jappa said the project cost was not yet evaluated and the meeting of the district and garrison authorities would be held on May 4 to review the arrangements to start work on the project.

He said the Punjab government had provided Rs1 billion to the RDA for mobilisation of the contractor and in the meeting next week, “we will make a decision on how to start the work on the project. In this regard, the traffic plan submitted by the contractor would also be discussed.”

He said the provincial government was interested in launching work on the signal-free corridor from Koral Chowk to Motorway Chowk and the Kutchery Chowk remodeling and Liaquat Bagh underpass projects to ease traffic rush in the garrison city.

He said the RDA had completed the homework and would start the work soon after getting the go-ahead signal from the government.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2023