RAWALPINDI, Sept 8: Construction work on the long-awaited and controversial Parking Plaza in historic Raja Bazaar kicked off on Wednesday after Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi bench refused to stay the work on the application of some shopkeepers and hotel owners.

Proposed in 1999, the civic authorities in Rawalpindi finally succeeded after 11 years in starting excavation work on the parking plaza located near the busy Fawara Chowk in Raja Bazaar.

Designed by state-run National Engineering Services of Pakistan (NesPak), the first ever parking plaza in congested Rawalpindi city is being constructed on a covered area of 6 kanals (120 marlas) having a basement and three floors.

The plaza will cost Rs400 million having the capacity to accommodate 500 vehicles at a time. The authorities have released Rs80 million to kick off the first phase of the project, which will take approximately two years to complete.

Earlier, some hotel owners and shopkeepers moved the court with the claim that the land belonged to them and any construction there by the RDA was illegal.