February 20, 2008	Wednesday	Safar 12, 1429

RAWALPINDI, Feb 19: Monday’s general elections sealed the fate of Sheikh Rashid Ahmed for sure but what future awaits the development projects begun by his PML-Q government in the city remains to be seen.

One of the projects was in fact named after him. Whether the rising cost and slow pace of work on the Sheikh Rashid Expressway on the two banks of the Leh nullah meandering through Rawalpindi, contributed to the fall of its self-proclaimed prodigal son, or not, the project had certainly become controversial.

When launched in March 2007 by President Pervez Musharraf, the project was estimated to cost Rs16 billion but by the end of the year it had climbed to Rs20 billion with not much work seen on the ground.

Informed sources say the project would have continued only if Shaikh Rashid, the moving spirit behind it, had remained in power. With him gone, the survival of the project has become doubtful.

Leh nullah and its tributaries are polluted daily by urban waste and have eaten up billions of rupees in cleaning efforts. Despite that they remain a living threat of flooding in low lying localities in the city during monsoon season. The nullah and its tributaries carry both storm-water and wastewater which eventually empty into Soan River.

The expressway project inaugurated by President Pervez Musharraf in March last year, has been opposed by the people living in areas whose houses would be demolished for the completion of the project. The district administration estimated that over 400 houses would have to be demolished to pave the way for the expressway.

People living along the banks of Leh Nullah had protested when the former railways minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmad visited the areas last year. Perhaps this could be another reason for the defeat of Mr Ahmad. The owners of 400 houses marked to be demolished have not yet been promised provision of alternative houses.

They have rejected the district government’s compensation package for surrendering their houses which they consider is much lower than the market rate.