PESHAWAR, Aug 11: The Peshawar Development Authority (PDA) has closed down 12 guesthouses in Hayatabad after complaints from residents that illegal activities are being carried out there, said the authority's director general Qazi Laeq on Thursday.

He said that the other reason for the action was that guesthouses were not permitted in the townships. He said that many private schools were also closed down while registration of some plots over which such schools were constructed had been cancelled.

However, he said that the PDA was ready to offer a piece of land through auction for construction of schools in the township.

In reply to a question, Mr Laeq said that concept papers of Asfandyar Township had been sent to the Planning and Development Department for the review of the project, which if initiated would spread over 14,000 acres. This project on Cherat Road would be bigger than Hayatabad and Regi townships, he said.

Moreover, he also mentioned several development projects started in the provincial capital during the last two years. He said that construction work on Arbab Sikandar Khan Khalil Flyover on G.T Road was underway.

He was optimistic that the project would be completed much before the one and half year's stipulated time. He said that construction work on Mufti Mahmood Flyover would also be started soon to lesson the traffic burden in the city.

With regard to construction work in the Regi Township, the PDA DG said that zone III and IV were almost completed as private construction had been started there. He denied the impression that there was any dispute over some portion of land of the Regi Township.

He said that police station would be set up in the Regi Township soon to provide security to the local dwellers.

About the Durrani Media Colony, he said that the project would be completed within eight months enabling the journalists to construct their houses.

Mr Laeq said that rehabilitation work on the Ring Road was underway at a cost Rs2 billion. — APP