New Rawalpindi City plan approved
The Punjab government has formally approved the establishment of New Rawalpindi City to be equipped with modern facilities to reduce the population pressure on the garrison city.
The new city, part of the 20-year Rawalpindi master plan, would sprawl over 6,000 acres and would be constructed near Rawat along GT Road.
The government has acquired land for the project too, Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) Chairman Tariq Murtaza said.
As per details read by The Express Tribune, the new city would have a theme park, a 500-bed hospital, and new girls and boys colleges.
The city would have underground power lines and a water tank, commercial plazas, and its own water supply system.
RDA Chairman Murtaza said that some 700 acres have been allocated for the educational and technical institutions, 300 acres for the hospital, and 200 acres for the theme park.
The official asserted that they would lay the foundation of the project in 2020.
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Regarding the income supplementation schemes for households, Murtaza said RDA has restored the PM’s poultry and kitchen gardening projects after a gap of over two months.
Both projects were suspended after the imposition of lockdown due to the coronavirus.
In the first phase, RDA would distribute moveable pot stands and vegetable seeds among 200 families while some 500 families will get a set of five chickens and a cockerel.
The funds for both projects would be provided by a Turkish Company and they are expected to be re-initiated from July 23 by the Turkish Ambassador.
RDA Chairman Murtaza said that they had distributed pots among 50 families before the imposition of lockdown.
He said that the vegetables had successfully grown in the pots that had been distributed before the project was halted. He added that up to 12 different vegetables can be grown in a pot at a time.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 12th, 2020.