CHITRAL: Though reconstruction of the airport road between Chitral town and Balach has been started after inordinate delays, residents have pointed out substandard work by the contractor.
Local people told ChitralToday that the contractor had started digging along the roadside without caring for the telephone lines, electricity poles and fiber optic lines.
They expressed the fear that the contractor and his staff will damage the utility lines and will leave the site, creating problems for the residents.
Under rules, all utility companies are notified and consulted before start of any development projects, especially where digging is involved, to ensure service lines are not damaged and if any damage is caused the company concerned is compensated for it.
But here, the situation seems totally different as the contractor and his engineer have started digging along the roadside without following rules and caring for the utility lines or informing the utility companies in advance to relocate their lines.
The local people also alleged use of substandard material in the construction of the road as there is no one to check the work at the site.
They said if the district administration did not take notice of the matter, the contractor will go away keeping the roadsides in mess and damaging the utility services. Then years will take for the utility companies to repair their lines and the damaged roadsides.
The residents also suspected that without proper monitoring by the authorities concerned the contractor may misuse the funds and complete the work without following minimum quality.
Airport road not only serves the residents of the town, Balach and nearby areas housing offices and educational institutions but is also part of the Garam Chashma valley road.
The residents called upon the DC Lower Chitral to take notice and ensure the project is completed in a transparent way following quality and without damaging any utility service lines.–Bashir Hussain Azad
Govt given deadline of Oct 1, 2019, to start work on airport road