LAHORE, Sept 5: A 12-kilometre under-construction stretch of Multan Road from Manga Mandi to Maraka is creating hours-long traffic jams besides frequent accidents and vehicle damages.

The contractors who got the project from the National Highway Authority (NHA) complain about pending bills restricting the timely completion of the project. The work on the stretch was initiated on three sections (1221km-1234km) by Zoraize Constructions and Eastern Constructions in Feb 2010 and the project was to be completed in two months.

But after stone-lying of a six-kilometre portion of the road, the NHA stopped funds to the contractors, sources added.

One contractor, Major Ejaz (retired), has laid asphalt at four-kilometre stretches. National Highways and Motorway Police (NH&MP) diverted the traffic to other side of the road in May after complaints of breakdown of vehicles.

According to a motorway official, though diversions had stopped helped minimise vehicle damages, the two-way traffic was causing frequent traffic jams, especially in evenings, when the people returned to the city from industrial units. He says in the case of breakdown of one vehicle, traffic would be disturbed for hours. National Highways and Motorway Police (NH&MP) officials said four people, including a woman, had been killed while as many injured in four accidents since the diversions were made on the section.

On April 19, 2010, car driver Pervaiz Dogar died when he failed to change the lane near Paka Meel U-turn (1244 km), and the car fell into the verge hitting a telephone pole. On June 25, motorcyclist Maqsood along with his wife Tayyaba was run over and killed by a bus near Hussaini Astana (1231 km). The bus driver failed to notice the motorcycle under its wheels and dragged it up to a significant distance.

Similarly, on June 30, a trailer collided with a truck leaving drivers of both trucks -- Shaukat Ali and Abdul Majeed -- injured.

On July 28, a bus hit a motorcycle and a mini-truck near Berger Factory (1231 km), killing motorcyclist Amanat Ali, of Renala Khurd, and mini-truck driver Muhammad Irfan, of Kasur, and Amanat’s friend Ajmal injured.

Major Ejaz Hussain of Zoraize Constructions, when contacted, said he had stopped work after failing to get funds from the NHA.

He said his Rs20 million bills were overdue with the NHA, adding he had laid asphalt on the two-kilometre section.

He said the work on 13-kilomtre road could be completed in two months if the NHA released funds, adding the authorities had also asked him to stop work for want of funds.

NHA Chairman Chaudhry Altaf Ahmad told Dawn that he had issued Rs50 million to the contractors and the work would be resumed shortly.

He, however, admitted the funds were not released timely in the past because of cut in the PSDP and the Frontier Works Organization’s reluctance to hand over Rs200 million toll collection to the NHA.

He said the FWO had stopped the funds complaining that the government had not released Rs500m to Rs700m to them for the development work they had carried out on roads.

Altaf said keeping in view the complaints of road-related problems he would supervise the construction work and try his level best to get complete it one and half months.