The Planning Commission has asked the Ministry of Communications to provide justification for an increase of around 64 percent in the construction cost of Chitral-Garam Chashma-Doraha Pass Road.
The Cost of the original PC-1 for the Construction of the Chitral-Garam Chashma-Doraha Pass Road (82.5 KM) project was Rs. 8,314.36 million in 2017, which has enhanced to Rs. 13,631.48 million in just five years, according to official documents seen by ProPakistani.
The total increase in cost is Rs. 5,317.12 million which is around 64 percent of the original cost, said the documents. Reasons for the increase in cost are due to actual land rates and updated cost of escalation with no change in the original scope of work, the document said.
The Sponsoring Agency should properly justify abnormal increases in land cost. Why special attention was not given to land issues keeping in view the importance of the matter? It should also be certified that the current price of land is duly endorsed by the revenue department of the project area and there are no outstanding issues, which may cause a further increase in the cost of land, the documents said.
According to the sponsor of the project, there was very less provision for land acquisition and utility relocation in the original PC-I. Now the land cost and the utility relocation cost are assessed Mouza-wise by the District Administration and the correct cost is assessed as Rs. 4.39 billion.