RAWALPINDI: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday laid the foundation stone of the Rawalpindi Ring Road (R3) project.

Earlier, briefing the prime minister, Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chattha said the Punjab government had planned to construct Rawalpindi Ring Road (RRR) on priority to address the traffic congestion.

The project is essential for the residents of Rawalpindi and Islamabad as traffic on G.T. Road from Lahore to the twin cities and Peshawar and vice-versa is compelled to pass through the heart ofthe garrison city, which when combined with the local traffic created congestion on major arteries of the city.

The ring road will cater to the traffic issues of the twin cities by providing an alternative bypass by connecting N-5 with M-2. It will not only address traffic problems in the urban areas of the twin cities but also curtail the travel time and cost. After completion of the project, regional trade and economic activity would also flourish.

A senior official of the divisional administration told Dawn that the government had allocated Rs5 million for the project in the annual development programme 2023-24.

He said Nespak was carrying out survey of the area from Baanth to Thalian.

“In the initial survey, land of 36 villages will come in the project. Eight villages (mouzas) are in Gujar Khan and the rest in Rawalpindi tehsil,” he said.

The official said the district price assessment committee had fixed the price of land and imposed section 4 in March 2022 before it was inaugurated by the former prime minister Imran Khan at Thalian on March 19. However, he said after increase in land price in the area, deputy commissioner land revised rates in June.

On the other hand, land revenue branch of Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) was of the view that the price fixed by district price assessment committee will not change in a year.

However, he said the project price would likely to increase as the construction material and transport charges increased manifold and approximately, the project price would likely to escalate by 60pc more.

According to last year plan, the ring road Project is a 38.3 Km controlled access road which originates from National Highway (N-5) at Baanth and passes through Chak Beli Road, Adiala Road, Chakri Road and terminates at Motorway M-2 at Thallian Interchange.

The total cost of the project is Rs33.7 billion -- Rs27 billion for construction and Rs6.7 billion for land acquisition-- while the total length of the main carriage way is 38.3 km.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2023