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Repeated damages on newly inaugurated projects raises question marks on CDA performance
by MUHAMMAD ASAD CHAUDHRY July 20, 2023 in Regional, Islamabad
ISLAMABAD-A trend of road damages just days after their inauguration remained continued in the capital city as on Wednesday the photos of a dented portion of Karnal Sher Khan Shaheed Road were making rounds on social media.
The said road previously known as the IJP Road was inaugurated by the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif a few days ago but as per reliable reports, the road has been settled on several locations.
It was not the first incident, when the Capital Development Authority earned bad repute due to such below standard work but in almost every project, there were such complaints.
As for instance, a portion of slip road of 7th Avenue Interchange Abpara was found settled even before its formal inauguration while recently a road line at Rawal Dam Interchange was also damaged after a light rain.
Meanwhile, a portion of newly inaugurated Margalla Avenue also collapsed shortly after its inauguration in addition to a routine flooding at Shah Allah Ditta underpass on continuous bases.
However, people in large numbers criticized city managers on Wednesday for their poor performance and most of them attributed the road settlement on Karnal Sher Khan Shaheed Road with malpractices of CDA officers.
Shahid Abbasi—a social media user criticized the city managers and asked sarcastically whether the same road projects are being completed with public money or being built by contractors from his own pocket.
“It is not possible to avoid corruption in public welfare projects being carried out by CDA.
Contractor, executing officers as well as their high ups should be booked and convicted in addition to recovery of loss”, an advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan Shoukat Aziz Siddiqui commented adding; “Rulers are in hurry to place name plaques irrespective of road quality.”
It is pertinent to mention here that the aforementioned projects including Karnal Sher Khan Shaheed Road were awarded to state owned companies National Logistics Cell and Frontier Works Organization without going into a competitive process for their early completion.
In background discussion, the concerned officers tried to give an impression that these organizations were beyond their control but a former Member Engineering CDA while talking to this scribe refuted this impression and said that it is the primary responsibility of the executing officer to ensure quality of work and he cannot shift the burden on others.
When contacted, the Member Engineering CDA Syed Munawar Shah, who originally belongs to Pakistan Railways informed this scribe that the road rutting at a certain portion of Karnal Sher Khan Shaheed Road was due to the use of flexible asphalt by the heavy traffic, which was originally supposed to use line with rigid pavement. |
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