Altaf Hamid Rao.
MIRPUR (AJK): (Parliament Times) Mirpur-AJK civil society elders have sought immediate intervention of the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan for the early completion of the much-delayed Mirpur-Islamgarh bridge over the scenic Mangla dam reservoir with prime focus to save this Rs.4.5 billion national project from complete destruction – lying in dole drum for the past many years for the reasons best known to the concerned authorities – especially the executing agency the Project Management Unit (PMU) of the AJK government.
“Without the construction of the 160 meter centre span, the entire huge investment of Rs.4.5 billion, made to date, will be squandered”, said that civil society elders in a letter addressed to the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan, that released to the media here on Wednesday.
“We, therefore, request you to kindly intervene in the matter forcefully to save a national project from being ruined, and pass necessary orders for its early completion”, they requested to the PM.
Signatories to the letter wrote to the Prime Minister of Pakistan seeking his immediate intervention to ensure early completion of the over 02 km long Mirpur- Islamgarh Bridge (famously known as Rathuaa-Harrayam Bridge on Mangla-dam lake) bridging this lake city of UK-based expatriates with adjoining thickly-populated Islamgarh town – also mostly comprising the population of expats, included Justice Muhammad Azam Khan, Chief Justice (Retd) of Supreme Court of AJK, Prof. Dr.Habibur Rehman, Former VC, Mirpur University of Science& Technology, Qamar Zaman Mirza, Advocate, President Mirpur District Bar Association, Justice (Retd) Munir Ahmad Khan, Justice (Rtd) Jahandad Khan, Malik Muhammad Nawaz, Member Legislative Assembly AJK, Kotli, Sajjad Hussain Jarral, President Kashmir Press Club, Mirpur, Dr. Ghulam Ghous, Former VC, University of Kotli AJK , Justice (Retd) Sardar Muhammad Ashraf Khan, Former Judge Shariat Court AJK, Kotli, and Justice (Retd) Iftikhar Hussain Butt, Former Judge Shariat Court AJK, Kotli.
The letter said “We the inhabitants of District Mirpur want to bring to your notice a gross injustice meted out to us, the affected people who have twice been displaced from their ancestral homes in less than four decades, first for the construction of Mangla Dam and then for its upraising, each time being called to give sacrifice for the general betterment of people of Pakistan.
The upraising of Mangla Dam project was initiated by the Govt of Pakistan in 2001. As it required the displacement of about 60000 people there was a lot of disgruntlement in the people of Mirpur. To assuage these apprehensions a comprehensive agreement was signed between the Governments of Pakistan, Azad Jammu & Kashmir and WAPDA as confidence building measure to facilitate acceptance of Mangla Dam Upraising Project.
Under Clause 6.1 of the Agreement a subsidiary project for construction of Haryam Bridge was included in it to reduce the travelling distance between Mirpur and major towns situated on the periphery of Mangla lake by 21 km and travelling time by 25 minutes. The distance between the two district headquarters Mirpur and Kotli would also have reduced by 20%. In addition, a three km long bridge over a vast span of water, in itself would become a major tourist attraction.
The project was designed with a 560 meter long cable-stayed structure in a critical zone where the conditions did not allow piers for regular RCC bridge. It was duly approved by Planning Commission in August 2006 at a cost of Rs.1.395 billion, but thereafter started a saga of mismanagement and bureaucratic bungling. When the bids were called for the construction of the project in 2008, it transpired that even the lowest bid was more than three times the approved cost.
A high-level committee decided to look into other design options and finally decided on a conventional RCC bridge. The project cost was enhanced to Rs. 4.233 billion by ECNEC as three years had elapsed since the bidding. New bids were called for the bridge and work was finally awarded in August 2011 to M/s Beixin Skyways JV, lead firm of which was a Chinese company. M/s NESPAK was appointed as the supervisory consultant.
While the construction of bridge was going on, the consultants M/s NESPAK,after survey and soil testing, proposed changes in design which were approved by Govt of Pakistan and the Contractor was asked to submit a final design and cost estimate. Going through the rigors of many committees the ECNEC finally approved the 2nd revision for Rs. 6.480 billion in July/October 2017.
The design of new 160 meters long steel bridge was duly submitted by the Contractor and vetted by his consultant along with the cost estimate. But the project is at a standstill for last two years, which may result in further increase in the cost, while the inhabitants of area are forced to use the old longer route. The approach roads of four kilometers are 100% complete and 75% of the work on the Main Bridge has been done. We would also like to bring to your notice that an amount of over Rs. 2 billion is available with the implementing authorities for the completion of the bridge”.
“Without the construction of the 160 meter centre span, the entire huge investment of Rs.4.5 billion, made to date, will be squandered. We, therefore, request you to kindly intervene in the matter forcefully to save a national project from being ruined, and pass necessary orders for its early completion”, the letter concludes.
