Yarkhun bridge, poor material being used
Dawn
Zar Alam Khan
ISLAMABAD: An influential
contractor in Chitral is again using substandard material in the
reconstruction of a bridge in Yarkhun valley after the collapse of
another bridge in the area days after its completion killing three
persons, the local residents alleged.
Talking to Dawn, they also accused contractor Mohammad Khan of changing
the design of the bridge and decreasing its width in connivance with the
officials of the works department though Rs140 million had been
sanctioned for the project.
When the residents held a protest demonstration against the poor quality
work on the bridge connecting their area with other parts of the
district, the contractor assured them that fresh and quality material
would be used in the project. However, a few days later he restarted
work at the site using the same old stuff.
When the bridge collapsed in August 2006, the local residents had
collected its material including strings, bolts and plunks and stored
them in a nearby field. With the passage of time most of the material
got damaged due to weathering and became unfit for use.
The residents of Yarkhun said the reconstruction of the only bridge
connecting their area with other parts of the district had been in the
cold storage for the over three years.
Official sources said the executive engineer works had imposed Rs1.4
million fine on the contractor and also recommended his blacklisting for
failing to complete the project on time but so far action has not been
taken against him.
Public representatives in the area said Mohammad Khan was also
responsible for inordinate delay and poor quality work in major
development projects in the district. They said misuse of funds, delay
and poor quality work had been detected in a number of projects.
They cited the examples of the Booni-Shandur road, Molkhow road and
Mastuj bridge projects which were awarded to the same contractor wholly
or partially and were still incomplete.
When contacted, contractor Mohammad Khan rejected all the allegations
and said to avoid backlash of the residents of Yarkhun, MNA Shahzada
Mohiuddin and MPA Ghulam Mohammad were trying to make him a scapegoat
and tarnish his image among the local people.
He said the elected representatives had tried to award the project to
their cronies by floating tenders three times which caused delay in
completion of the work. He said neither he was using the old material in
the reconstruction of the bridge nor had reduced its width.
About extra payment made to him in the Attahk water project, he said the
earlier estimate was made by an inexperienced consultant, after which
another consultant raised the cost of the completed work, adding most of
the payment had still not been made to him. --(Dawn)
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