RAWALPINDI: The rehabilitation work to fix the metro bus’s elevated track from Saddar to Faizabad will continue till Jan 15 after an extension in the Dec 31 deadline, as the Rawalpindi Development Authority could only complete 88 per cent work.

The project for Rs718.945 million was launched by Punjab Masstransit Authority earlier this year and the Rawalpindi Development Authority was tasked to execute the project and finish it by the end of this year. The deadline was missed despite the passage of six months.

On Monday, Punjab Minister for Transport and Masstransit Bilal Akbar Khan visited the construction site and claimed that 88pc work had been completed while the remaining work would be completed by January 15.

According to a press release, the minister said that the delay in the construction work occurred due to sit-in protests and bad weather. He added talks were underway with the Islamabad administration regarding the repairing of the track. He said that metro buses had developed mechanical faults due to the poor condition of the metro track. He said that tenders had been issued internationally for 110 electric buses and standard-class buses were being brought to Lahore and Rawalpindi to provide comfortable travel facilities to the people.

The minister claimed that Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz was taking all possible steps to provide facilities to the people of the province. “We want to provide the best transport system in nine major cities of Punjab. We will control the Punjab Road Safety Authority ourselves so that traffic management and accidents can be reduced,” he said.

Regional Transport Authority (RTA) Secretary Rashid Ali, Rawalpindi Development Authority Additional Director General Owais Manzoor Tarar and other officials were also present on the occasion. A senior RDA official told Dawn that despite the closure of the metro bus service twice for more than a week, the contractor failed to speed up the work. He said that the work started in July and despite clear instructions to do repairs at night, it could not gain pace.

On the other hand, the senior official said that the Jamaat-i-Islami sit-in and the PTI protest caused the delay. But he also said that the JI dharna protest was limited to Liaquat Bagh and the protests by the PTI and the Tehreek-i-Labbaik did not span more than seven days, from July to December. He said there was a lack of expertise in the RDA’s engineering wing, saying it failed to launch any mega project in the last three years.

He said that the Rawalpindi Ring Road project, despite being in the control of the RDA, was being run by the Project Management Unit under the commissioner, and the role of the RDA was limited to making and revising PC-I.

It may be noted that the elevated metro track in Rawalpindi starts from Flashman’s Hotel to Faizabad, having a distance of 8.6km. In Islamabad, 14.6km is at grade, starting from Faizabad to Pak Secretariat via IJP Road and 9th Avenue. The metro service has 24 stations. Of these, 10 are on Murree Road in Rawalpindi, while 14 are in Islamabad.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2024