PESHAWAR: The work on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is being carried out in full swing and elevated crossings are being built to complete the mega project as per its schedule.
“We have signed an agreement with the Pakistan Railways to build elevated crossings on its property at four places,” said an official of the Peshawar Development Authority (PDA).
He added that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and Pakistan Railways, Peshawar division had signed an agreement in this regard and development work at identified points under the BRT had been started.
When approached, Divisional Engineer at the Peshawar Railways Asjid Rashid Mirza said the PDA had contacted the Pakistan Railways seeking permission to construct elevated crossings on its property for the BRT.
He added that the PDA and officials of the Peshawar Railways discussed and agreed on the plan. “The PDA shared the design of the elevated crossings to be constructed on Railways property in advance. We were satisfied with the design of the project and it was approved,” he added.
The officer, who supervised the entire procedure, said under the agreement elevated crossings at four points including Chamkani, Cantonment Railway Station and on Railways property in phase-V in Hayatabad would be constructed.
Asjid Rashid Mirza said it was also agreed that the provincial government would pay Rs450 million to the Pakistan Railways for allowing the government to use its property for construction of the elevated crossings.
To a question, he said that the concerned Railways division where a project of national or public interest was being developed was consulted and were authorised to discuss the terms and conditions and final a deal with the concerned developing authority.
He maintained that the design and other necessary documents were then dispatched to the headquarters of the Pakistan Railways for final approval.
“We have approved the design of the elevated crossings and sent the related documents to the higher authorities for endorsement,” he added.
To another question, the officer said, that the headquarters never rejected any proposal approved by the concerned Railways authorities.
However, he said that the higher authorities can propose changes in the design and point out any shortcoming in the agreement. “It is just a formality and is meant to bring any such agreements in the notice of the higher authorities,” he added.
When asked to share copy of the no objection certificate (NoC), the officer said that they did not issue any written NoC to PDA. “It is a lengthy process as you know to complete the required procedure in government departments take a long time. We are in constant contact with the Railways headquarters and the final approval to the agreement would be given soon,” he added.
He pointed out that they did not dispatch any design or agreement details to higher authorities unless the Railways received complete payments from the other party.
Asjid Rashid Mirza was confident that the final approval would be issued in the coming days. Director General PDA Israrul Haq, when approached, said that there was no issue between the Pakistan Railways and the project developing authority. “The Railways authorities are very cooperative. We had discussed the plan with them before the launch of the BRT and they were fully onboard,” he added.
The PDA chief said the provincial government had also paid the agreed amount to Pakistan Railways for its property to be used for construction of BRT route.
He said the money was paid in three installments, including Rs100million, Rs200 million and Rs150 million, adding the provincial government would also pay additional money to Pakistan Railways if any changes were made in the present design or the PR authorities proposed any changes in the design that had been shared with them.
