ISLAMABAD: A nine kilometre road by the Margalla Hills is yet to be completed four years after it was started, with the delay being attributed to design flaws and poor planning.

The Margalla Avenue project was started in May 2012 and involves the construction of a nine kilometre road from GT Road near Sangjani to D-12 in order to link it with Margalla Road.

It was scheduled to be completed by June 30, 2013. Though 51pc of the construction work has been completed, no progress on the road has been made during the last year, due to land being acquired along some parts of the route and graveyards situated along others.

The contract for Margalla Avenue was awarded at less than the estimated cost and had design flaws

The CDA awarded the contract for the road for Rs588 million, which was 21pc less than the estimated cost, and that too before completing all the homework for the project, including the possession of land.

“It was a fault on our part that we did not think about the two graveyards located on the route the road was to take and the low bid is also a reason for the delay in the project,” said a CDA engineer.

Through his public relations office, Project Director Mumtaz Hussein told Dawn that the contractor filed a case against the CDA after completing 51pc of the work which led to the court arbitrator imposing a fine of Rs170 million on the CDA.

“We are now going to file an appeal against the decision of the arbitrator,” Mr Hussein said.

According to a CDA engineer, the Engineering Wing has requested the Planning Wing for changing the route of the road because the locals of Shah Allah Ditta will not allow the CDA to move their centuries old graveyards.

“The CDA should have thought about the graveyards before the project was started. Due to poor planning and issues of land acquisition, the short but important road could not be completed in all these years,” he said.

However, though it could not complete the nine kilometre road in four years, the CDA has already planned an extension of the current, incomplete road from GT Road to D-12 on to Constitution Avenue and linking it to the Murree Expressway, which will make for 17 miles of the road.

According to CDA officials, if completed, the road will relieve traffic and facilitate commuters coming from GT Road towards Murree and Kashmir.

The contractor of the project who is also a senator from Balochistan, Mir Mohammad Yousaf Badini said that it was the CDA’s responsibility to provide him with a clear route for the road. “The court has decided in our favour and the CDA should pay us the damages,” he said, adding that there were no delays on his part.

“In some parts, the locals got a stay order against the construction of the road and it is the CDA’s responsibility to get the stay vacated,” he said.

When asked, CDA spokesperson Mazhar Hussein said the project will be started once all physical and legal hurdles are removed.

“I cannot say if the current contractor will be completing the project. But the completion of the project is a priority,” he said, adding that the civic authority did not have problems with the contractor regarding the bank guarantee, as he had submitted an insurance guarantee.

Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2016