The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has expressed concern over the prolonged delay in completion of "upgradation and beautification" work on I.I. Chundrigar Road.
Sources in I.I. Chundrigar Road Beautification Committee of SBP told Business Recorder on Wednesday that the Rs 220 million project was unlikely to be completed by mid-November due to the additional works, which emerged during the road upgradation work.
Sources said that SBP was skeptical regarding completion of the project in its stipulated time, and was concerned over the belated commencement of the beautification work. In addition to this, they said, the project was also lacking arrangements for car parking in the wake of failed negotiations with Pakistan Railways which had bluntly denied to provide land for this purpose.
It may be recalled that the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) had scheduled three-month period (up to June) for completion of the project from its start-up on March 26 this year. The CDGK was following a phase-wise strategy to complete the project, in which the first phase was for upgradation of the road, to be followed by beautification work in the second phase.
But, sources said, from March onward only upgradation work was undertaken and it was not likely to be completed by mid-September. They said that after September a further two-month period would be required to install traffic regulating instruments, including traffic signals, catseyes, street signs, street lights, etc on the road, which would last till mid-November.
After that, the second phase of the project--beautification work--would be started, they said. The beautification work, which is likely to be a continued process, would include establishing ornamental fountains and food outlets, placing benches, cleaning of the buildings and other entertainment concerned things. The SBP had also asked the CDGK to reconstruct the roads adjacent to the Chundrigar Road so that smooth flow of traffic could be ensured.
The additional works, like construction of nullahs (drains) to carry away rainwater and sewage, had caused delay till now may cause further delay, sources said. While closing the decades-old trunk sewerage lines from I.I Chundrigar Road a new sewerage line was laid on the Dr Zia-u-ddin Road, they said.
They said that CDGK could miss the mid-September deadline for the completion of road upgradation work if the pace of work was not accelerated, especially when the fasting month of Ramazan was also round the corner. When asked if the cost of the project was likely to exceed the estimated Rs 220 million, they said that though the additional works had increased the burden, the project might be completed within the allocated budget.
In case of overspending, as per agreement, the city government would provide the required money, they said. About the traffic on the road, they said the road will have special shuttles, expectedly to be launched by SBP, at an estimated cost of Rs 1.2 million. Talks were, however, underway on launching of the proposed shuttle service, they said.