Pakistan

RMC imposes new fee on trucks entering Rawalpindi

Resolution passed to reduce size of pushcarts, include parking and public toilets in plans for new plazas

Correspondent June 12, 2017

Resolution passed to reduce size of pushcarts, include parking and public toilets in plans for new plazas. PHOTO: REUTERS

RAWALPINDI: In what could be a move to generate extra revenue from trucks passing through under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation (RMC) has decided to impose a fee on heavy traffic entering the municipality areas of the garrison city.

The RMC hopes that the move would also discourage the entry of unnecessary vehicles into the congested city.

Representatives of the RMC, in a meeting on Saturday evening, passed a resolution which had been forwarded by the municipal officer for finance.

As per the resolution, the RMC will start collecting Rs600 for the one-time entry of a 22-wheeler truck, Rs400 for 16-wheeler truck, Rs250 for a 10-wheeler truck, Rs150 for an eight-wheeler truck and Rs75 for a mini-truck.

The resolution noted that the fees would help enhance the revenue of the cash-strapped corporation besides discouraging the unnecessary entry of heavy traffic in the already overburdened city roads leading to massive traffic jams.

Through another resolution, the RMC has decided to cut short the size of pushcarts which are used in the city’s markets to transport goods from one point to another.

Chairman of Union Council 34 in Banni,Amiruddin Mir submitted the resolution. He stated that the size of pushcarts currently plying the roads was five feet across and 20 feet long, which was too big for the overcrowded city roads.

He proposed to cut the size of these pushcarts to three feet in width and six feet
in length.

The corporation passed the resolution unanimously.

In yet another decision, the corporation decided to form a seven-member committee which would oversee the process of auctioning contracts for development projects. Apart from members of the treasury benches, the committee would also include a member from the opposition benches.

During the session, the corporation also decided that maps for new commercial plazas being constructed in the garrison city would not be passed unless the plans included a parking area and public toilets.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 12^th, 2017.