RAWALPINDI, April 9: The Rawalpindi administration and military authorities on Monday could not reach a decision over handing over of Jinnah Park to the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA).

The historic park has become a bone of contention between the Punjab government and the garrison authorities as the latter seem in no mood to hand it over to the RDA despite expiry of the agreement under which it had taken it over for four years in 2004.

Commissioner Rawalpindi Imdadullah Bosal and the district coordination officer (DCO) Saqib Zaffar held a meeting with officials of 10 Corps on the directive of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif after the RDA submitted a summary seeking possession of the park.

But according to sources, the meeting could not take a decision as the military side said their seniors were engaged in rescue operations at Siachen, where an avalanche has buried over 100 army personnel.

They requested that another meeting be convened in the next 10 or 15 days to discuss the matter.

Jinnah Park was developed on a portion of the old Rawalpindi district jail that was established in 1882 on 674 kanals and 18 marlas and shifted to Adiala Road in 1980s.

In 1995, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) was tasked for the first time to develop the park at a cost of Rs214 million but the project could not be completed.

The RDA handed over the park to 10 Corps in 2004 under an agreement under which the garrison authorities were to build the park and then hand it over to the civilian administration in 2008. The RDA had also paid Rs115 million as its share of the cost of the park’s development.

Official sources said RDA had requested the garrison authorities many times for handing over of the park. However, military authorities turned down the request saying the park was located in a high security zone and along a VVIP route.

Since 2006, the garrison administration has leased out commercial places in the park for 19 and 30 years. The commercial sites, including a five-screen cinema (Cinepax), a multinational food chain outlet, restaurants, parking contract, coffee bar and other fast-food shops fetch about Rs1.98 million per month.

“The meeting took place but due the engagement of high military officials in Siachen, we did not discuss the issue in detail. Another meeting would be convened in this regard,” Director General RDA Chaudhry Naseer Ahmad told Dawn.

The DCO also said representatives of 10 Corps present in the meeting were not in a position to reach a final decision.