RAWALPINDI - Chief Secretary Punjab Naveed Akram Cheema has directed the departments concerned to complete Rawalpindi/Islamabad Metro Bus Service (MBS) project within stipulated time, besides ensuring smooth flow of traffic on Benazir Bhutto Road and all alternate routes.
Cheema issued these directions while presiding over a meeting held at the site office of MBS project here at Shamasabad area on Saturday. Commissioner Rawalpindi Division Zahid Saeed, Regional Police Officer (RPO) Umer Akhtar Hayyat Lalika, District Coordination Officer (DCO) Sajjad Zafar Daal, City Traffic Officer (CTO) Muhammad Shoaib Khurram, Chief Engineer Saeed Khan, General Manager NESPAK Danish Raza and representatives of concerned department were present on the occasion.
The chief secretary said that he himself paid a surprise visit of project site on previous night and he was satisfied over the flow of traffic. He said that public awareness activities should also be taken to update the commuters in Islamabad so that they could manage their routes according to the requirements. Cheema further said that guidelines should be followed to ensure and examine quality work according to the specification. He also inquired about the physical progress of work on every component of MBP project. Zahid Saeed, who is project director of MBS project, briefed about the pace of progress, besides administrative and financial matters. He said that presently, there was no bottleneck in any component of the project and construction work was progressing according to the fixed targets. He further said that dismantling work was also in progress to clear the route of the MBS project.  The commissioner said that measures had been taken to repair the side roads and manage traffic.
He said that anti-encroachment teams and safety and security committees had also been constituted under the supervision of the DCO to take prompt action and facilitate the people as well as the executing agencies. The structural changes in Emergency Block of Benazir Bhutto Hospital were also discussed in the meeting. The progress of schemes under Annual Development Programme was also reviewed on the occasion.
The RPO in a presentation highlighted the activities initiated for smooth traffic flow and pointed out side roads where repair work was required. He also said that timing of about 70 gas stations falling in the route of MBS project required being re-examined to ease the traffic flow.
The chief secretary asked the authorities concerned to change the schedule of CNG filling stations to avoid traffic mess on Benazir Bhutto Road.
Earlier, the chief secretary along with commissioner and other officers visited different sites of MBS project on Benazir Bhutto Road and inspected the ongoing work.