RAWALPINDI: After excluding the Rawalpindi Ring Road Project from its annual development programme (ADP) 2017-18, the provincial government has directed the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) to start work on PC-I of the project.

A senior official of the RDA told Dawn that a briefing would be given to the government about the project soon. “Though the project was not included in the ADP, the government will release funds from its supplementary grants.”

He said the ring road would start from Channi Sher Alam and end at Phallian near the Chakri interchange on the motorway. There would be a number of modifications in the project design prepared in 1991.

The project was initiated in 1991 but due to frequent changes in the governments it could not be launched. However, in 2008 a fresh feasibility study was conducted to construct the ring road from Channi Sher Alam to Fatehjang near the New Islamabad Airport.

Though not included in ADP 2017-18, govt will provide funds for project from special grants

The aim was to involve foreign investors to build the road on a private-public partnership basis. But the RDA failed to attract the investors. In 2008, the total cost of the project was estimated to be Rs74 billion, including the construction of 75 kilometres road and an economic zone along it.

However, the RDA made some changes to the design dropping the idea of the economic zone and reducing the length of the road from 75km to 54km to reduce the cost.

The official said the basic objective behind changing the design was to make it possible for the government to execute the project from its own resources.

He said the RDA also dropped the idea of allocating space for a railway track along the ring road.

However, he said, the Punjab government was now negotiating with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to fund the project and in this regard the secretary communication and ADB officials held a meeting in Islamabad last week. “After the meeting, the government asked the RDA to start the work.”

He said the establishment of a wholesale food market was also included in the ring road project.

After completing the project, the city’s wholesale market would be shifted to Channi Sher Alam to facilitate traders to transport their goods through the ring road to other parts of the country, especially Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

When contacted, RDA Chief Engineer Ather Hussain Bukhari said they would brief Punjab Finance Minister Ayesha Ghous Pasha on the ring road project on September 23.

“The RDA will present the report of consultants regarding suggestions for the shortest way for the ring road, its cost and other matters.” He said the government wanted to construct the road on a build, operate and transfer basis.

In reply to a question, he said the length of the road had been cut short from Chani Sher Alam to Phallian near Islamabad-Lahore Motorway. It will have two loops for Rawat and Islamabad.

He said the size of the right of way was also reduced from 800 to 300 feet to reduce the cost to be incurred on the acquisition of land. The official said the acquisition of land would start soon after the government approves the project.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2017