Akhtar promises project completion on new deadline, says winter won’t impede work
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coalition government is going glacier slow on the construction of Jehangir Chowk-Rambagh flyover, a major infrastructure project in Srinagar.
The construction of the flyover, a major infrastructure project in Srinagar, has run into a quagmire of delays with work being halted on the first phase D (Tulsi Bagh-Barzulla) slated to be completed by December 31.
An official confirming the strike by both the non-native labourers and local material suppliers said Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA) has paid the contractor company, Simplex Infra Limited but they have withheld the payment to labourers and suppliers.
Following the non-payment, labourers and suppliers have gone on a strike, bringing the work to halt on the much-hyped project which has already missed three deadlines since August this year.
The flyover is divided into four phases – Jehangir Chowk-Magarmal Bagh (A), Magarmal Bagh-Haft Chinar (B), Haft Chinar-Tulsi Bagh (C) and Tulsi Bagh-Barzulla (D).
Overall, around 65 percent work has been completed but the construction work was only going on Phase D which has now been stopped.
The work on the four major structures of phase A (Jehangir Chowk-Magarmal Bagh) is yet to be started, with ERA officials revealing that each structure has three phases which include the foundation laying, sub-structure and super-structure.
Interestingly, the circular design of the flyover near the J&K High Court visible in the project’s videos, available on the internet, has been shelved after the issue of land acquisition from the High Court complex came up.
In the new design for phase A, the incoming traffic tube from Rambagh will be connected to the express corridor in a straight manner as compared to the earlier circular design.
Also, two access ramps will be constructed opposite the exhibition ground for the outgoing traffic coming in from Amira Kadal side.
After the failure of the Peoples Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janta Party coalition government in completing the project within the set deadline, the deadline for the entire expressway corridor has now been extended to June 2018.
However, completing the project within the renewed deadline too seems unlikely with work on Phase A yet to be started.
Work on Phase B (Magarmal Bagh-Haft Chinar) has also been halted after completion of the sub-structure while work on Phase C (Haft Chinar-Tulsi Bagh) is also stuck with 50 percent of work yet to be completed.
Talking to Kashmir Post, an ERA official said the work had not been going on at the desired pace and the flyover at this pace would miss June 2018 deadline as well.
The work on the flyover was started in 2013 and the first deadline for its completion was September 2016, which was pushed to October 2017 and now to June 2018.
In the phase D (Tulsi-Bagh-Barzulla), slated to be completed before December 31, 15 slabs are yet to be laid.
Simplex Infra Limited officials said four slabs would be laid by mid-November while the rest 11 would be laid by January, which will push the deadline further.
Talking to Kashmir Post, a senior official of ERA, wishing anonymity, said the deadlines were issued by higher-ups who were not aware of the ground reality.
“Phase D still needs 15 slabs and after that super-structure needs to be built. With winter setting in and the strikes, the phase is set to miss the December 31st deadline,” the official said.
In phase D, ERA has decided against black-topping (macadamisation) due to upcoming winter season as phase D would be ready for blacktopping work only in January, which witnesses sub-zero temperatures.
Another issue being faced by the contractor is the continuous fleeing of non-local labourers who after facing harassment during the past few weeks at the hands of locals and police have left the State.
Some labourers, both skilled and non-skilled, were roughed up by a mob in Alouchi Bagh area following reports of the presence of braid cutters in the area.
As per ERA officials, some labourers and engineers working on the flyover were beaten and detained by J&K Police when protests rocked the area.
“Some labourers are leaving due to the situation after braid cutting incidents were reported in the city while others are leaving because of the coming winters,” an ERA official said.
Official data reveals that 73 percent workforce working on the project is from outside states like Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.
The flyover has also witnessed cost escalation to the tune of Rs 100 crore.
Earlier the construction cost was Rs 259 crore excluding Rs 101 crore for the rehabilitation of affected traders and land acquisition.
Now, the revised construction cost has jumped to Rs 359 crore with ERA officials blaming the 2014 floods and 2016 Kashmir uprising for cost escalation.
The contractor Simplex Infra Limited is suffering a loss for which they are mulling to invoke idle charges under ‘FIDIC conditions’ that the company is “entitled” to for the time the work remains suspended.
The project is being funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) that has agreed to pay the cost escalation up to Rs 100 crore that has already been crossed.
The fate of funding now is a question for the State government to ponder upon.
Another issue, which has led to the slow pace of work on the flyover is the ineffective administration at the top level with government attaching the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ERA, Vinod Sharma after he had informed the review meeting that the flyover would miss the September deadline.
Now former Deputy Commissioner Srinagar Farooq Ahmad Lone has been posted as CEO ERA. He is also OSD in Tourism Department and Chief Executive Officer of Special Purpose Vehicle for Smart City.
Earlier, Rohit Kansal, who is also Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, served as incharge CEO of ERA for a month.
Talking to Kashmir Post, Minister for Public Works, Naeem Akhtar said he was hopeful that phase D would be completed by December end.
“As far as the strike of labourers is concerned, it is the issue between the contractor and the labourers,” he said.
Akhtar, who is the third minister to oversee the project since it was started, said work on other phases would be completed in time and the winter would not act as an impediment.
Due to delay in completion of the project, the southern part of the city continues to witness traffic jams, causing inconvenience to thousands of commuters every day.
The 2.4-km flyover is expected to reduce the journey time from Jehangir Chowk to Rambagh from 28 minutes to 2.5 minutes.
