RAWALPINDI: Prime Minister Imran Khan will likely lay the foundation stone of the much-awaited Rawalpindi Ring Road (R3) Project on Saturday afternoon, Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) Chairman Tariq Murtaza said.

The Punjab government has provided Rs5.9 billion for land acquisition of the 38.3 kilometre road. So far, Rs2.3 billion has been spent out of it.

Six lanes will be constructed in the road whereas four interchanges will be built on Banth-Chak Beli Khan Road, Adiala Road, Chakri Road and Thalian. Last year, the Ring Road project scam emerged after Prime Minister Imran Khan took notice of alleged changes to the re-alignment of the project, which allegedly not only increased the cost of the project by Rs25 billion but also benefited some private housing societies.

An inquiry had been held at the highest level in the provincial government after which it emerged that changes had been made to the actual plan of the road to create new road infrastructures.

The Punjab government cancelled the old project and prepared a new PC-I related to the new alignment from Rawat to Thallian near Motorway.

Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2022