RAWALPINDI: The new fiscal year 2026-27 began on July 1, but the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) and Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) have failed to get their annual budgets approved and devise future development plans.
A senior official of the provincial finance department told Dawn that civic bodies were required to prepare their annual budgets and get them approved by their governing bodies before the start of the new fiscal year.
“In the absence of approval of the annual budget, all spending on development schemes and office expenditures will be irregular,” he said.
He said that before the beginning of every fiscal year, civic bodies were required to get their annual budgets approved, but this year there was no approved budget for RDA, Wasa and Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA), despite the appointment of commissioners and deputy commissioners as heads of their governing bodies.
A senior RDA official told Dawn that a financial scam detected in the authority in May 2025 involved more than Rs3 billion and inquiries had been launched by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment and the Punjab chief secretary’s inspection team.
The NAB Islamabad/Rawalpindi handed over recovered assets worth more than Rs4.1 billion to RDA on July 1 in a major embezzlement case involving the authority’s departmental funds.
Following an investigation by NAB Islamabad/Rawalpindi, Rs1.75 billion was recovered through plea bargains, settlements and recoveries, while 31 immovable properties valued at approximately Rs2.3 billion were frozen and a receiver was appointed for them.
The official said the transfer and posting of the commissioner and deputy commissioner earlier this month delayed the annual budget process, as the commissioner Rawalpindi serves as the director general of the civic body and chairman of its governing body.
He said Wasa Rawalpindi had also failed to get its annual budget approved due to the slow pace of managing departmental affairs.
Wasa officials said they had prepared the budget and it would be finalised next week. They added that funds for salaries and other expenditures of RDA, Wasa and PHA had been released under emergency arrangements.
When contacted, Wasa Managing Director Azizullah Khan said the annual budget was likely to be approved by the end of next week after the Punjab government appointed the deputy commissioner Rawalpindi as head of the governing body.
He said the sub-finance committee would prepare an initial plan, which would be presented before the governing body next week.
Meanwhile, a senior RDA official said the Punjab government had appointed the commissioner Rawalpindi as head of the governing body and the annual budget would soon be presented before it for approval.
Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2026
