RAWALPINDI: Commissioner Aamir Khattak on Monday took strict notice of public complaints of road digging for municipal utility services and directed deputy commissioners of Rawalpindi, Attock, Chakwal, Jhelum and Murree to ensure proper procedure is followed and NOC obtained from the relevant deputy commissioner.

He issued directions while presiding over a review meeting of development works held at the Commissioner’s Office in Rawalpindi. RDA Director General Kinza Murtaza, Parks and Horticulture Authority Director General Ahmed Hassan Ranjha and other concerned officials attended the meeting in person while deputy commissioners of Attock, Jhelum, Chakwal and Murree participated through video link.

The commissioner directed the deputy commissioners to make an immediate assessment of the ongoing development schemes in their districts and submit a detailed report to the director development of Rawalpindi Division.

He said deputy commissioners should ensure immediate completion of public welfare projects which were facing delay due to minor reasons.

Makes NOCs from deputy commissioners mandatory

He asked them to write urgent letters to the relevant forums regarding pending schemes.

Taking notice of digging of roads by different departments for municipal service, the commissioner took strict notice of the complaints raised by the public that complete and functional roads were being dug up and not filled.

He strictly instructed that in future no department would dig up the road without obtaining NOC from the deputy commissioner.

If digging of road is inevitable for provision of any municipal service, the concerned department will deposit the money for repair and construction of that road first and than get NOC from deputy commissioners.

Moreover, efforts should be made to ensure that the provision of municipal services remain outside the roads, he said.

The commissioner further said that a meeting should be held every second day to review the progress of Rawalpindi’s mega projects including Rawalpindi Ring Road, Daducha Dam, Leh Nullah, Kutchery Chowk, Azad Patan Road and Dream Project. He directed that tasks should be assigned to the departments with timelines so that their performance can be checked accordingly.

While issuing orders to improve the monitoring of the ongoing development projects, he said that “test kits” should be installed along with the audit of projects by the third party. “If substandard work is proven, the construction company will be blacklisted for future government projects,” he added.

Mr Khattak said timely completion of development schemes should be ensured under the direction of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz.

“Any negligence in the SOPs of the projects will not be tolerated. Officers should not compromise on materials in projects, and contractors who do not show seriousness in work should be dismissed after three warnings,” he added.

The commissioner directed that the allocated funds of PHA in the development schemes should be released immediately so that beautification work in the city and the restoration of green belts can be started simultaneously.

Published in Dawn, December 31st, 2024