Punjab govt compromises Bhogiwal Road’s merits to protect PML-N interests

LAHORE: The Punjab government, to protect the interests of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) local party leaders, has seriously compromised the merits of the under-construction Bhogiwal Road located in NA-123 constituency – considered as a bastion of the PML-N – by rejecting road expansion plans despite National Engineering Services Pakistan’s (NESPAK) recommendations.
A senior official of the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) told Pakistan Today that NESPAK’s designs to widen the road meant that a number of shops and houses that belonged to PML-N leaders and their friends had to be bulldozed. The proposed area, he said, which was to be demolished had been marked with white color and information regarding the demolition had been passed on to the people. NESPAK stressed the implementation of plan and recommended to contract a type of a cemented road, he added.
But, according to a source in LDA’s Engineering Wing, PML-N leaders opposed the design to protect their properties and submitted a summary against the NESPAK design to Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. The project had to be started in 2008 but due to conflict, it kept on being delayed.
Directives: “During the delay, on the directions of the Punjab CM, LDA ordered NESPAK to change the design and it took a long time to finalise the new design as per the aspirations of PML-N leaders. Now NESPAK has recommended the use of Reinforced Cemented Concrete (RCC) on the road,” the source said.
Eventually, LDA awarded a formal contract to the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) who has initiated the construction work at full throttle. The 3.4 kilometre-long Bhogiwal Road, a main approach road linking the Grand Trunk Road to Bund Road and Ring Road, would cost an estimated Rs 250 million. The road is part of the Lahore Road Rehabilitation Project Part II. The CM laid the foundation stone on September 9, 2008. It was the third time that the rehabilitation work of the same road was being undertaken. The earlier two versions were of an asphalt black top which deteriorated before time mainly due to the moisture content in the sub soil and heavy flooding due to the region being a low-lying area.
Signed: LDA Chief Engineer Abdul Rab said that the authority had signed a contract with the FWO and work had begun. He hoped that the road would be constructed within eight months. An FWO official said that the Bhogiwal locality was mainly settled over the bed of the Chota Ravi River. “The road remained submerged with water and filth since the region was a low-lying area. Hence, the new road is being raised by nearly 3 feet above ground. In place of asphalt, a RCC road is now being constructed,” he added.
To control seepage and prevent moisture from damaging the road, the foundation of the road, he said, was being dug approximately eight feet deep to remove unsuitable material and garbage that has accumulated in the past.
He said that a three feet-wide drain was also being constructed along the road which would be covered by a footpath to facilitate pedestrians. Giving reasons for the delay in the initiation of the project, he said that the delay had been caused by the long time taken for the relocating of water and gas lines, telephone and other cables from the construction area. A service corridor had now been developed on either side of the road where the maze of haphazard services has been relocated, he added. Another LDA official said that an underground sewerage, six feet wide, had been laid by the Water And Sanitation Authority (WASA) after which the project could go ahead.
“The construction of the road is meaningless without an efficient sewerage system. The project includes laying of a trunk and secondary sewers (by WASA) ranging from 12 to 72 inches in width and the construction of a lift station at Gujjarpura drain on Bhogiwal Road. The new trunk sewer will take care of the present and future needs of the whole service area spreading from Bhogiwal, Singhpura to Mughalpura, Baghbanpura and Wheetman Road,” he added.