RAWALPINDI: The Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) on Saturday sealed the record of land acquisition for the Ring Road Project and suspended the land acquisition collector till completion of an inquiry into alleged changes to the alignment of the route.

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday took notice of the alleged changes to the alignment of the road which not only increased the cost of the project by Rs25 billion but also benefited some private housing societies.

The prime minister directed Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar to investigate the matter.

RDA Director General retired Capt Abdul Sattar Issani told Dawn that Land Acquisition Collector Waseem Tabish had been suspended and all the record sealed to avoid any changes to it.

He said an inquiry had been launched by the Punjab government. The project is being launched under the supervision of Lahore Ring Road Authority and the Project Management Unit was working under the control of divisional commissioner, he added.

However, he said, RDA had the land acquisition record and was responsible for economic zones along the Ring Road. All the records have now been sealed.

A senior official of the local administration told Dawn that the issue surfaced after a plan was made to connect the Ring Road from Rawat to the motorway and from the motorway to Sangjani on G.T. Road.

He said it was alleged that the additional route from the motorway to Sangjani would benefit some housing societies.

However, he said, the allegations were made just to stop the project, adding the future of the project hanged in the balance as it would not be started in the current year at least.

He said the proposed ring road from Rawat to the motorway was useless as it could not benefit the users so there was a dire need to connect it with G.T. Road again.

Mr Issani said the basic aim of the ring road was to drain out heavy traffic from the inner roads of Rawalpindi and Islamabad and the objective would be achieved when the road started from G.T. Road and ended again on this main artery bypassing the city areas.

He said nine interchanges had been planned on the ring road and nine housing societies’ 500 kanals had been acquired by the government without any cost.

Five interchanges worth Rs7 billion are to be sponsored by housing schemes located near the ring road.

He said it was a win-win situation for the government and the housing societies as the government would save Rs7 billion and the project would benefit the housing schemes as the main road would passed by the societies.

The provincial government had issued a land acquisition award for the ring road Phase-I and has already released Rs6.5 billion for it.

So far, Rs356 million have been paid to the landowners for the first phase and 6,603 kanals and 17 marlas have been acquired for this portion of the road, measuring 32km.

The award for the 31 km package-2 falling in Taxila and Fatehjang has been announced but the payment has not been started. The land price in 10 mozas (villages) has already been announced in Fatehjang and payments will be made to 2,100 landowners soon.

April 12 was the last date for submission of tenders for the mega road project.

However, after the transfer of commissioner Rawalpindi Mohammad Mehmood, who was the project director, the divisional administration extended the bid deadline for the tenders.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2021