ISLAMABAD: The development of three stalled residential sectors will begin in the next six months if everything goes as planned, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Capital Development Authority (CDA) Affairs Ali Nawaz Awan said at a press conference on Monday.

The CDA has not developed a new sector in decades, making it near impossible for middle and lower middle class people to reside in the capital.

Mr Awan, who is also a local MNA, said that the development of E-12, I-12 and I-15 will begin in the next six months. He said the PC-I for these sectors have been approved.

There are more than a dozen stalled sectors in Islamabad, including C-13,C-14, C-15, C-16, D-13, E-13, F-13, H-16, I-12, 1-14, I-15, I-17, Kuri Model Village, Park Enclave II and Chattha Bakhtawar.

Mr Awan shared details of ongoing and future development projects. In addition to the urban areas, Rs1.5 billion worth of projects are being initiated in the capital’s rural outskirts, he said.

MNA shares details of ongoing, future development projects

He said that a project will be executed in two phases to address the traffic bottleneck on the Islamabad Expressway. The first phase is related to the construction of the PWD underpass — worth Rs33 million — and Korang Bridge — worth Rs845m — and will begin soon as the tender will be called next month.

“Once the PWD underpass and Korang Bridge are constructed, traffic congestion will ease significantly,” he said, adding that the government is mulling a public-private partnership to widen the remaining portion of the road.

He told Dawn later than the project was supposed to be taken up by the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec) on Monday, but it was decided a few days ago that there was no need to do so as the Planning Commission’s Development Working Party (DWP) was the competent forum to approve the project.

“The DWP will soon approve the project and in April we will go for tendering,” he said, adding that Rs450 million have already been approved for the ongoing fiscal year and more funding will be secured in the upcoming Public Sector Development Programme funding or for the 2020-21 fiscal year.

At the press conference, Mr Awan also discussed the metro bus project from Peshawar Mor to Islamabad International Airport. He said the project will be completed by the end of the month and talks are underway about the operation of the project.

He said the Islamabad Capital Territory administration, which has a transport authority, will likely run the service.

He also mentioned the proposed ring road from Rawat to Bhara Kahu that could connect the capital to neighbouring cities.

He said several link roads have been proposed in zones II, IV and V in view of urbanisation trends and the city’s growth patterns.

A traffic management solution for Rawal Chowk, the interchange on the 7th Avenue-Kashmir Highway intersection and proposed grade separation facilities at the 10th, 11th and 12th avenues are among the projects prioritised by the CDA.

Mr Awan also spoke about the proposed Ghazi Barotha water project, which the CDA has discussed for the last 14 or so years.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2020