Adil Lateef
Srinagar, Jan 7: The Phase-I of ambitious Jehangir Chowk-Rambagh flyover, which is expected to ease traffic woes here in city Centre missed another deadline and the work on it is still incomplete, officials of Jammu and Kashmir Economic Reconstruction Agency (JKERA) said.
Executed by JKERA with Simplex Infra Limited as project contractor, the ambitious Rs 350 crore Jehangir Chowk-Rambagh flyover missed several deadlines since the work began on it. The flyover, on which work began in 2013, is being financed by Asian Development Bank (ADB) and is thought to considerably reduce the traffic congestion in Srinagar city Centre and provide quick access to International Airport.
After missing several deadlines, the Government this year in October set June 2018 as new deadline for the flyover completion. The latest deadline missed by the executing agency for the completion of the project was August 2017. Officials of the JKERA said that they missed the December 31 deadline for the completion of Phase-1 of the project from Amar Singh College to Barzulla Bridge but the work is underway.
Admitting there would be delay in Phase-I completion, the Director, JKERA, Satish Razdan told Excelsior: “We have completed nearly 95 percent of our work on Phase-I but some other works are pending which would be completed by mid-January next year. The slab work is complete and the ramp work from both sides is also complete. We expect to have a trial run next week.”
Razdan said that 70 to 75 percent crash barriers work has been complete. “There are other works left which would be also completed very soon,” he said. When asked why the JKERA has failed to meet December 31 deadline of Phase-1, he cited low temperature and recent inclement weather as the reason. “The outstation workers are not able to do iron work during night,” he said. The Director JKERA acknowledged that people are suffering due to delay in project completion.
“However, we don’t want to take a chance. We cannot endanger lives of people and that is why we will first properly conduct mandatory tests before making it through. Till we are dead sure about safety of our work which we have done, we cannot throw it open,” Razdan said.
Meanwhile, another JKERA official said while the slab work of the Phase-I is complete but black-topping has not been done and cannot be carried out due to sub-zero temperatures.
The work on the project has been divided into 4 sections – A, B, C and D. With the work remaining incomplete, there is no end in sight to the traffic mess on Jehangir Chowk-Rambagh axis, resulting in unprecedented difficulties to thousands of commuters everyday travelling on this route.
In September, the Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti expressed displeasure over failure of JKERA to complete the first phase of Jehangir Chowk-Rambagh flyover within stipulated time and ordered shifting of its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Vinod Sharma.
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