Rawalpindi Ring Road project halted due to a new alignment of the road

post-feature-img
Description

The development work of the Rawalpindi Ring Road project has been halted as the government has started an investigation into the new alignment of the road, media reported.

According to a senior official of the Planning and Development department, the annual development program comprises funds for three current projects in Rawalpindi. An amount of Rs.50 million has been assigned for the ring road, Rs.50 million for the Rawal Expressway project, and Rs.50 million has been set aside for the Kutchery Chowk remodeling project.

The contract was given to the FWO and the government had issued Rs.4 billion for the project though it was reimbursed because of a missing work order required for the project.

During that time, it was unveiled that the government was looking forward to an additional road being constructed which would just benefit some of the private housing societies. Consequently, this had increased the total budget of the project by Rs.25 billion.

In spite of releasing Rs.50 million for the project this year, it is obvious the government is still not clear whether to start work on the project or not. For the past four years, the government has allotted funds for the project however the construction work is yet to start.

Earlier this year, the Punjab government planned to build the Rawalpindi Ring Road under the 2017 alignment, under which, the road would be built from N-5 GT Road Rawat Banth Mor to Thalian Interchange (Motorway-2). The National Highway Authority, however, had raised the objections that over 33,000 heavy transport vehicles would enter M2 from Rawalpindi Ring Road on daily basis, which will not only cause damage to its infrastructure but also result in a traffic jam at the Islamabad motorway toll plaza.

The project management unit said that rather link the ring road with the motorway, the construction of a link road is under deliberation. The officer added that former Rawalpindi commissioner Gulzar Hussain Shah had ordered the project planners to remove the NHA objections within two weeks, but, no progress was made in this regard.