NAQI AKBAR
LAHORE - The Balochistan government has again sent the appraisal proposal to the Pakistan railways to transform the century old Khojak tunnel near the trade point city of Chaman from its current railway traffic use to that of side by side rail and road traffic usage.
Sources on the condition of not being quoted told Nation that the technical study of the tunnel conversion by the international consultants as well as local ones advised against “touching the existing structure of the tunnel” on the premise that the structure was too ill designed by the British “when they created the tunnel” that any tempering can cause the tunnel to cave in and cause loss of life.
The resending of the proposal by the Balochistan government is the second such instance in the last two years since the project got off the ground in the form of the technical study for the tunnel conversion from only railway traffic to that of multi track rail and road traffic usage.
The technical consortium inclusive of Railway experts, German experts as well as National Highway Authority ruled against any tempering who ever suggested that a new parallel or a new road in the pattern of the Khojak pass can be technically feasible. The technical experts in their report to the Balochistan government pointed out that a parallel tunnel for road traffic can be created with an estimated cost of Rs 7 billion, while any tempering and conversion of the original Khojak tunnel would round about cost the same amount. The technical experts also suggested a parallel road link along the Khojak pass costing Rs 3 billion.
Here it may be pointed out that the Balochistan government requested Pakistan Railways to undertake the study to convert the tunnel from its present railway track only profile to that of a multi corridor thoroughfare having parallel rail and road linkages in October 2005.
The civil engineers linked with the study requesting anonymity told Nation that the British colonial army constructed the structure in 1888 in a rash manner for military purposes that the basic engineering benchmarks were ignored in the process. They argued that the technical analysis of the internal rock structure as well as the anatomy of the structure forced them to conclude that it was better not to touch the Khojak tunnel and if any structure has to be created it can be a parallel tunnel or the road linkage outside.
The said tunnel currently allows rail linkage between Quetta and Chaman through the Shelabagh railway station. Much of the freight is carried through the trawlers along the Khojak pass that has certain steep and narrow turns, which prompted the Balochistan government to go for the option.
However the insistence of the provincial govt to go ahead with tempering of the tunnel is being constantly resisted by the technical consortium. Technical experts feel that any go ahead with the project can create hazards at the time of construction and said that carbon mono oxide emission from automobiles can make the tunnel environmentally unfit for use.
http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/sep-2007/6/bnews3.php |
