ISLAMABAD, Dec 30 The government has finally decided to turn the red zone (Constitution Avenue and its nearby areas) into a 'walled city' or 'green zone' by constructing a fence and installing scanners around it to make the place more safer for the rulers, parliamentarians and foreign diplomats, Dawn learnt on Wednesday.

The plan to fence the red zone at a cost of Rs20 million was finalised by the local administration at a security meeting chaired by Chief Commissioner Shahid Mahmood.

“It would be a ten-foot-high steel fence that would cover an area of around 13 kilometres. Gates will be installed at the entry and exit points of the security zone with installation of CCTV cameras, scanners for checking vehicles and construction of police guardrooms,” said a senior official of the local administration.

According to the previous plan, the government wanted to construct a wall around the red zone at an estimated cost of Rs8 billion. However, it has now been made cost effective with the decision to erect the fence instead.

The plan was first conceived following the devastating suicide blast outside Marriott Hotel that claimed 53 lives on September 20, 2008.

The security meeting was also attended by Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Amer Ali Ahmed, DIG Police Headquarters Kamaluddin Tipu, the SSP security and CDA officials. It also reviewed the PC-1 for improvement of security at the Pak-Secretariat office buildings.

The green zone or walled city will house many important buildings including Parliament House, President House, Prime Minister House, Prime Minister Secretariat, Pak-Secretariat, Supreme Court, Parliament Lodges, Constitution Avenue, Ministers Colony, Judges Colony, Punjab House, Frontier House, Balochistan House and Sindh House.

“The fence will encircle the area around Embassy Road, Margalla Road to Pak-Secretariat, President House, Prime Minister Secretariat and Diplomatic Enclave to Serena Hotel,” the official said.

It has been learnt that the security forces have adopted the concept of the green zone or walled city from Baghdad where the United States troops have declared a vast area as the international zone (formerly as green zone), where the US authorities live and work.

The main objective behind construction of the ten-foot-high fence is to stop explosive-laden vehicles from entering the sealed area because in many suicide attacks in the country bombers used heavy vehicles to hit their targets.

Some eight gates will be installed at different points in the zone for entry and exit.