Work on 10th Avenue progressing at a snail’s pace

ISLAMABAD       –         At the time when Capital Development Authority is progressing on several development projects in the city with its own resources, it has failed to achieve planned progress on the construction of federal government sponsored 10th Avenue project. Officials overseeing this project blamed inadequate funding as a main reason behind the slow pace of work on the project. They explained that unlike rest of the project, it is funded by the federal government through Public Sector Development Program (PSDP). The total cost of the project is Rs.12.13 billion out of which Rs.1.48 billion were allocated to CDA in last financial year and the project was started with full pace but this year, the city managers couldn’t secure considerable funding from the federal government, leaving the project on back-burner. A senior officer of the civic authority informed that to maintain the planned progress on this project, we needed an allocation of about Rs. 5 billion but government had allocated only Rs.350 million. The ground breaking of this project was performed in December last year and it was scheduled to be completed by September 2023 in just 21 months, however, sources told the project is far behind to its planned progress and it could take two to three years in completion. A senior officer of the authority informed that the long delay in the completion of this project would not only deprive the citizen from this facility but it will also cost price escalation to the public exchequer. The National Logistics Cell was employed on this project that starts at IJP Road and ends at Srinagar Highway. In the phase-I of this project, 5km long Road, 14 bridges, and flyovers, 6 underpasses, 2 lanes flexible pavement on each sides, 1 lane shoulder on each side, 3 culverts and 2 overhead bridges are to be completed. As per future plan, CDA will, at a later stage, construct the road from Srinagar Highway to Khayban-i-Iqbal/ Margalla Road. Moreover, this road will also be linked with Rawalpindi’s Leh Expressway. Once constructed, 10th Avenue will not only help reduce traffic congestion on IJP Road and 9th Avenue but will also provide an alternative route to residents of I-10, I-11 and those living in adjoining areas of Rawalpindi to reach Islamabad. The spokesperson of the CDA, Syed Asif Shah, was contacted to know his response on the issue but he was unavailable for comments.

Article source: https://www.nation.com.pk/01-Dec-2022/work-on-10th-avenue-progressing-at-a-snail-s-pace