Islamabad - The incompetence of land and rehabilitation directorate of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has resulted in discontinuation of construction work on the Margalla Avenue and subsequent deadlock between the authority and the contractor due to unavailability of the land, as an old graveyard lies right in the way of the road, The Nation has learnt reliably.
The contractor has already completed 51 percent construction work on the project, but the graveyard remains the main hurdle in its completion with the authority falling short of options to clear the way. The contractor has stopped the work and asked the authority to do the needful; otherwise, he would not restart work on the project, said the sources in the CDA. So far a number of meetings have been held between the authority and the contractor to find a way-out of the deadlock with the former asking the latter to restart work on the other patches except the graveyard and the contractor insisting on clearing the way first, the sources added. Sources in the CDA said that the engineering wing of the authority before awarding the contract, had asked the land directorate whether the required land was available and the latter without visiting the site gave a go ahead for awarding the contract. The contract for the construction of 8.5 kilometres long road - extension of the Margalla Road - was awarded to Rakhshani Builders, owned by a senator some years back so as to provide easy access to the new sectors like C-13, C-14, C-15, C-16 and D-12 from GT Road and motorway in future. The road was also meant to provide easy access to the commuters coming from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, motorway and other cities to Islamabad. It would also reduce the traffic burden on the Kashmir Highway. The contractor started work on the project in June 2012 after the land and rehabilitation directorate of the authority gave a go ahead that the land required for the road is clear of all hitches despite the fact that an old graveyard lied on the way. According to the CDA sources, 51 percent work on the project has been completed and the contractor has been paid Rs 262 million so far. The project was to be completed within one year; June 2013. The total cost of the project is Rs 588 million. The Maraglla Avenue is being constructed with 9 culverts, 2 lanes of 24 feet on each side and 20 feet median between each side and an overhead bridge would also be constructed on railway lane. According to the sources, now the contractor has proposed the authority to appoint an arbitrator so that the issue could be resolved. A meeting is likely to be held in the coming days, they added. The sources said that the authority in informal discussions considered a number of options to bypass the graveyard like constructing a bridge over the graveyard or a diversion but could not reach a decision. “Being a sensitive issue and anticipating a backlash from the residents, the authority dropped the idea of constructing bridge over the graveyard and diversion is violation of the master plan of the city,” the sources quoted the city managers as having discussed in informal discussions. A meeting between the authority and contractor is likely to be held in few days to appoint an arbitrator so that a workable plan could be chalked out for early completion of the avenue, the sources said.