ISLAMABAD   -   Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday directed the National Highway Authority to build a new bridge as early as possible at Hassan Abad, where the old one was destroyed and swept away leaving Karakoram Highway non-functional for commuters.

The incident took place on Saturday by a glacial lake outburst flood from the Shishper Glacier that forced authorities to divert traffic to an alternate route on the Sas Valley Road.

However, following the directions passed by the Prime Minister, Chairman NHA Khurram Agha himself reached the site on Sunday and directed to immediately start development work on a new bridge.

According to the sources, the NHA has decided to award contract to the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) under section 42/F of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority rules without going into lengthy tendering process.

The construction of new bridge would be funded by NHA’s own road maintenance account and it is expected that construction work would be started within next few days.

When contacted, the Member North NHA Fazal Nawab said that a temporary bridge would be installed on site to provide temporary passage to the commuters within one month while it is expected that proper bridge would be made functional within next six months.

He said the old bridge was in dilapidated condition as it was constructed during early seventies and it was expected that it could collapse at any time.

“We have already prepared the design for the new bridge and we will go for the construction of the bridge without wasting time”, he informed.

Earlier, the bridge collapsed as the glacier had started melting on Saturday due to heat and caused a flood that damaged the bridge and rendered it unusable for traffic.