ISLAMABAD: After objections by the climate change ministry and environmentalists, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has decided to only expand the Ataturk Avenue till the Jinnah Avenue instead of all the way to Ayub Chowk on Aga Khan Road.

Sources said the climate change ministry had opposed the project as it would have included the felling of some 50 more trees.

CDA had cut over 140 trees on a portion of the road from its starting point till Jinnah Avenue.

50 more trees would have been cut down if road was expanded all the way till Ayub Chowk

The civic agency had also chopped off pine trees that take a decade to grow in order to make way for the construction of the road.

CDA had also identified around 50 more trees to chop off from Jinnah Avenue till Ayub Chowk.

Sources said that the scope of the project has now been reduced to almost half.

The civic agency will be expanding 1.7km instead of 2.5km and the cost of the project will now be reduced by Rs70 million.

CDA sources said the prime minister’s adviser on climate change, Malik Amin Aslam, had also visited the construction site and expressed concerns regarding the cutting down of trees.

“We have decided to reduce the scope of the project and will expand it till D-Chowk on Jinnah Avenue instead of all the way till Ayub Chowk,” said CDA spokesperson Syed Safdar Ali.

The project for the expansion of the Ataturk Avenue, commonly known as Embassy Road, was started in August last year but was stopped a month later when the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) had directed the CDA to stop as it would include the cutting of over 140 trees.

The project was resumed recently when the civic agency removed Pak-EPA’s concerns.

However, CDA officials said that when the climate change ministry came to know that some 50 more trees will be cut off, it raised objections after which the CDA decided to expand only part of the road.

According to the PC-I of the project worth Rs235 million, a 24-foot lane and nine-foot shoulder was to be added to the road and a bridge and two box culverts were also part of the project.

However, work has now been reduced by 45pc.

Embassy Road was originally a service road to the yet-to-be constructed 6th Avenue and is considered one of the busiest roads, particularly during office hours.

CDA officials said money saved from almost halving the project may now be spent on the rehabilitation and re-carpeting of a portion of Khayaban-i-Suharwardi, which was closed for 10 years and was opened on Thursday on Supreme Court orders.

However, Mr Ali did not confirm or reject these claims.

“The final decision is yet to be taken. But it is true that the scope of the project has been reduced due to the climate change ministry’s objections and we are now thinking about utilising the funds for the rehabilitation of a portion of Khayaban-i-Suharwardi as well,” a CDA engineer said.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2018