Biker’s Lane project going through major changes

LAHORE:The much-hyped pilot project of having a dedicated Biker’s Lane in the City is going through major changes in its concept and design, after it brought a bad name for the present government and failed to give the desired results.

Presently, there was practically no dedicated Biker’s Lane existed on the Ferozepur Road as the paint from both sides of the road washed away while the motorcyclists were driving in all the three/four lanes on both sides of the Ferozepur Road from Qaddafi Stadium till Arfa Karim Tower and then Back to Qaddafi Stadium. Senior officers in LDA claimed that no action against those responsible had been taken so far, while the name of the project contractor was also kept hidden from the media. They demanded carrying out a forensic audit of the Biker’s Lane project as well as other recently completed projects by the same official.

They claimed that during the completion stage of the project, the LDA DG Tahir Farooq also repeatedly asked the head as well as the officers of the Engineering Wing about the quality of the paint as well as other technicalities and he was told that ‘All is OK’. Sources added that the quality of paint was allegedly compromised to bring down the cost and the LDA’s Engineering wing has no expertise to check the quality of the product.

They said in such cases where the Engineering Wing needed other expertise they should have consulted the concerned departments such as Traffic Engineering and Planning Agency (TEPA), which has the specialty of checking the quality of paint but in this case TEPA was not consulted during the project’s completion. Sources said now TEPA was included in the technical committee constituted to find out the reasons why the paint washed away from the road.

They said the fact finding committee constituted to investigate the damages to the patches of paint on the biker lane at Ferozepur Road due to recent rainfall in Lahore comprised of Director P&D, LDA (Convener), Project Director-III, LDA (Member), Director S&E, TEPA, LDA (Member), Director TP&D-I, TEPA, LDA (Member) and Representative of M/s NESPAK (Member).

The terms of reference for the fact finding committee were to investigate the causes of damage to the paint on the biker lane due to rain, to check the quality of paint used for biker lane, to evaluate the application process and methodology, to check surface preparation and condition of the road, to identify potential causes of the problem and assess their likelihood. The committee shall submit the comprehensive report detailing the findings and causes of the problem, recommendations for corrective actions to prevent recurrence and suggestions for way forward.

The committee shall submit its report within one week. LDA’s spokesperson said that the LDA was carrying out some changes in the concept and design of the project. He said now the road will be painted in patches whereas road signs will be painted on it. He said TEPA was also being consulted about the paint as it has the relative experience. When contacted, the concerned Project Director said the new paint sample was approved by the technical committee and was put on trial.

Over a question about the show-cause notice given to the contractor, he said the contractor was blaming the paint company, which has agreed to redo the paint. When asked about the copy of show-cause notice given to the contractor, he didn’t reply. Chief Engineer LDA Asrar Saeed also remained silent on the questions sent to him regarding the failure of the project and about any departmental action taken.