ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly has been informed that the estimated cost of the proposed Safari park in Islamabad was Rs10 billion while CDA had auctioned commercial plots worth Rs129 billion during the last five years.

Speaking during the inauguration ceremony of Serena Interchange, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi had stated that the Safari park would be built in Islamabad by the Capital Development Authority (CDA).

Sources said earlier it was decided that the park would be set up in Fatima Jinnah Park, but now, the civic agency was exploring some other sites.

They said the interior minister, during his term as chief minister of Punjab, had also gotten a Safari Park built in Lahore and now the same type of facility would be established in the federal capital.

Earlier on Monday, in response to a question by MNA Tahira Aurangzeb, the interior minister in his written reply had informed the National Assembly that “it is a fact that CDA is going to construct the Safari Park in Islamabad; however the construction has not started yet”.

The minister further stated that the estimated cost of the project was approximately Rs10 billion and the expected completion time was 18 months. On the other hand, the CDA had fetch Rs130 billion from the auction of plots during the last five years.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2025