The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) raised the possibility of further delay in completion of New Islamabad International Airport (NIIA) after its officials warned that it may well go beyond the end of 2016 with no precise date being given when asked.
Last month, the CAA told Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that the work on the project will be completed before the deadline of December 2016.
A senior CAA official while talking to Pakistan Today said that there is no chance of the project being completed on time.
“We have to wait till next year or even beyond that for the project to become operational,” he said.
The work on construction of approach roads and dams to meet water needs of the airport, however, is being carried out at a faster pace. Under Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for financial year 2016-17, the federal government allocated a sum of Rs 6.2 billion for the same projects while Rs 900.8 million were set aside for the construction of two rainwater harvesting dams namely Rama and Kasana Dams.
“The site of the new airport near Fateh Jang is almost barren, with no availability of underground water,” the official said.
“Central Development Working Party (CDWP) approved the Rama and Kasana Dams on March 31. In the first phase, work on the construction of Rama Dam at a cost of Rs 1.6 billion has been taken up,” he said, adding that nearly 10 per cent work on the dam has so far been completed.
Rama Dam is the most feasible of the proposed reservoirs. The site meets the requirement for supply needed at the airport.
A sum of Rs 3 billion were marked for the construction of road networks, including the main link, the Thalian link and periphery road, and Rs 2.3 billion for the construction of approach road networks, including acquisition of land and shifting of utilities from the area.
“Funds have recently been released by the government to the National Highway Authority (NHA) which has started work on building approach roads,” said the official.
“Work on water reservoirs and approach roads will be completed till March 2017,” the official said.
Talking about technical and design flaws in airport runways, the official said, the CAA has decided not to revise the design.
“One runway will be enough to cater to the needs,” he said, adding any design change at this stage would have huge financial repercussions while it would also delay the project.
When contacted, CAA spokesperson Amir Mehboob said the authority cannot provide an exact date by when the mega project will be completed. However, in his short comment, he said a formal announcement in this regard will be made after the Eidul Azha holidays.
