The bridge part of Swabi Mardan road, KP govt has taken 75M dollars loans from ADB for the project
FAQIR HUSSAIN
Peshawar. Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has taken serious notice of Gohati Bridge collapse incident on Swabi-Mardan road and ordered a fact finding inquiry into the matter by provincial inspection team (PIT).
The under-construction bridge is part of 42KM Swabi Mardan Double Road Project for which the KP government has contracted around 75 million dollars loans from the Asian development bank (ADB).
Earlier a day, Chief Minister’s Secretariat sent a circular to the Chief Secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in which serious reservations have been shown over the incident occurred due to alleged use of sub-standard materials in the construction of Gohati Bridge.
It further said that the Chief Minister has directed the Provincial Inspection Team (PIT) to conduct a fact-finding inquiry into the incident and submit its report within 15 days.
According to sources, in Feb, 2019, the provincial government has contracted a loan agreement of 75 million dollars with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the widening and up gradation of Swabi Mardan 42 km double road project.
It is pertinent to mention here that CM-KP took notice of the incident after a number of social media users shared pictures and videos of the collapsed bridge on social media and criticized the provincial government.
Project director of swabi mardan double road project engineer tariq claimed that the bridge was collapsed due to some technical fault, adding that during placing the beams for the bridge one of the three beam fell on other and damaged all the under-construction bridge.
He said that quality testing of the beams was carried by the professional engineers of UET-Peshawar and UET-Lahore and declared them satisfactory.
Mr Tariq said that the total cost of swabi mardan double road project was Rs 7.2 billion and it has been constructed by JV.
Swabi-Mardan Double Road Project was inaugurated by chief minister KP and speaker national assembly in March 2020.
The PD further said that the 56 percent construction work on the project has been completed and the remaining work will be completed by December 2022.
