ISLAMABAD: Though the dream metro buses will be running soon, the ugliness that the project brought to ‘Islamabad the Beautiful’ looks to be staying for a while.

Even a handout of Rs125 million won’t make the Capital Development Authority (CDA) clear the mess and nurse the damaged green environment back to health.

Dawn has learnt that the CDA has decided to return the sum given to it by the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) for the purpose.

“Any restoration work can be undertaken only after the mounds of excavated earth and waste material produced during the construction of the project are removed by the contractors,” said a CDA source.

Since that has not been done, the CDA on Wednesday decided to return the money to the RDA, the project execution agency.

A new round of bickering between the two civic bodies looks in the offing as, according to a CDA official, the RDA “has unilaterally allowed the contractor of package-1 to conduct the restoration and beautification works without the approval of CDA”.

Five such contract packages are involved in the Islamabad section of the over Rs44 billion metro bus project meant for the twin cities.

It may look like routine scuffling between two government agencies, but the CDA official thought “involvement of politics” could give it a nasty turn.

“RDA wants to hush up the matter but insists that CDA hire the firm owned by the close relative of a cabinet member, as a consultant for the entire restoration of damaged environment work of Islamabad section of the metro bus project,” the official said.

Each of the five packages was executed by separate contractor. Package-1 is from I.J. Principal road to Peshawar Mor.

Hanif Abbasi, chairman Rawalpindi-Islamabad metro bus implementation committee, and belongs to ruling PML-N, had assigned the restoration work to CDA.

“We have allocated one per cent of the project cost to cover the environmental restoration. This would include planting trees, grass, plants, flowers and other beautification works,” he said.

Incidentally, Senator Mushahid Hussain of PML-Q has already taken both the CDA and RDA to the Supreme Court for their metro bus project “recklessly damaging the environment in Islamabad”. His petition is to be heard in mid March.

However, a CDA official claimed RDA is the main issue.

“Contractors and consultants it engaged as the executing agency of the metro bus project will take their money and leave. And we, the officers in Islamabad, will be left facing the court cases for years,” he said.

Published in Dawn February 12th , 2015

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