ISLAMABAD: Despite the downpour, city managers welcomed the New Year with heavy fireworks, which lit up the midnight sky over Islamabad’s F-9 sector.

Amid rain, firework was carried out with a spectacular display at a newly built Shaheen Chowk underpass on a chilly Wednesday night.

Fireworks marked the start of the year 2026 with a new commitment to citizens of Islamabad by State Minister for Interior, Talal Chaudhry, Chairman CDA Muhammad Ali Randhawa, and IG Islamabad Ali Nasir Rizvi were also present on the occasion.

During the rain, the fireworks continued for five minutes as a handful of people watched it live, and many filmed it with their mobile cameras.

A large number of officers from the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration, Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) and Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the Ministry of Interior and police were present on the occasion.

After the fireworks, speaking on the occasion, State Minister for Interior Talal Chaudhry said that Pakistan’s economy is on the right track and the country is making progress. He emphasised that in the year 2025, the country made significant progress in various fields, including a comfortable and worldwide acknowledged victory against India in four-day war.

Meanwhile, in his media talk, chairman CDA said that in the year 2026, dozens of new development projects will be launched in Islamabad. He stated that civic agency and the government are cognizant of the issue of water shortage in Islamabad, and special focus will be paid to resolve this issue as well.

“We completed a large number of development projects in year 2025, and people will see in this year [2026] we will complete twofold projects.

It is relevant to note here that CDA had carried out fireworks to celebrate the New Year 2025 and the completion of the F-8 Interchange, and this, around the opening of the Shaheen Chowk underpass, was celebrated.

Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2026