NHA restarts work on New Islamabad Airport link road project

ISLAMABAD: After a halt of almost three months, the National Highway Authority (NHA) has once again initiated the process to build the Kashmir Highway link road, the shortest and hassle-free access to the under construction New Islamabad International Airport (NIIA), as approved by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
In February this year, the NHA invited bids for construction of access road to the new airport but the tenders were called off but of late when the deputy chairman Planning Commission grilled the NHA officials for sticking to the alignment approved by the PM, the NHA has once again invited the bidders of sound financial and technical background for building the access road.
On May 8, the NHA issued tender drawing to the interested contractors and on May 12 a pre-bid meeting was held and on May 18, tenders were opened. In the next few days - first technical bids, submitted by contractors will be opened and then the financial bids will be opened.
The NHA has asked interested and qualified parties to bid for the ‘construction of the main link road (access controlled)’ to the NIIA, which will be 13.5 kilometres starting from the Golra Morr and the project will cost Rs8.78 billion approximately including construction of flyover, toll plazas and service roads on and along the link road. It is worth mentioning here that a major portion of the access road is already built and is used to approach Islamabad Motorway (M-2) toll plaza whereas NHA will have to build afresh a four-kilometre road from Motorway Zero Point to the New Airport to give access to the airport from the twin cities. It merits mentioning here that the prime minister approved the most cost-effective, straight and trouble-free link road through the Kashmir Highway to the new under construction Islamabad airport rejecting the zigzag and expensive routes. This is the shortest, inexpensive and hassle-free access to the new airport as originally planned, in accordance with the Islamabad Master Plan.
The other options had provided zigzag approach links that would have cost around Rs40 billion because an entirely new access had to be constructed to link the new airport with the federal capital in violation of the Islamabad Master Plan.
The News has been highlighting the issue and many stories were carried highlighting that the cost of the new airport has scandalously escalated to close to Rs100 billion from its original expenditure of Rs30 billion because of bureaucratic incompetence apart from the time wasted in completing the project while any zigzag access road would add more burden on the national exchequer.
The approved access road will directly touch the new airport’s parking area while the other zigzag roads’ proposals which have been rejected by the PM, were designed in such a manner that a passenger would have to travel precisely two and a half kilometres inside the airport, close to its several key installations, before reaching the parking lot.
Moreover, in the case of approved access road, no major land acquisition is involved. Of the four kilometres portion that will be built afresh, the housing towns through which the link road is to pass have already committed to the NHA free-of-cost land for two kilometres portion, touching them.