Ring Road industrial zone area quadrupled
Work continues on the Northern Loop of the Lahore Ring Road. EXPRESS/PHOTO: IJAZ MAHMOOD
In a bid to promote industrial activities in the garrison city, the provincial government has approved increasing the area allocated for the industrial zone of the Rawalpindi Ring Road project from 2,000 acres to 10,000 acres.
Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) will soon issue a notification of section 4 to acquire additional land for the industrial zone, said RDA Chairman Tariq Murtaza.
The authority has formally approved to build the project under public private partnership (PPP) mode, he said talking to The Express Tribune. Prime Minister Imran Khan and Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar will lay the foundation of the mega project in the last week of December, Murtaza said.
Further, the government has successfully completed consultations with the National University of Medical Sciences for setting up a Health City along the 65-kilometre (km) long ring road.
RDA Chairman Tariq Murtaza told The Express Tribune that the authority had started working to remove all impediments in the project.
He added that they were concentrated on building a new modern city equipped with all facilities along the Ring Road.
Murtaza claimed that overseas Pakistanis as well as businessmen from the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi have come forward for PPP. The official said that the project would generate 100,000 new jobs in Rawalpindi.
The Punjab government has added 10 new commercial and residential zones in the Rawalpindi Ring Road project, he continued.
A dry port equipped with modern facilities, a well-equipped hospital, and an international expo centre along with the establishment of fruit and vegetable markets, goods and public transport terminals, and cattle markets will be part of the project as per the released plan.
He further said that the project would have interchanges at eight different locations including Radio Pakistan, Rawat, Chak Beli, Adyala, Chakri, M2 Mor, Islamabad International Airport (IIA), and Sangjani while residential zones would be established along Sangjani, Adiala, Chakri and Chak Beli interchanges.
The RDA chairman said that the federal government has recently approved establishment of two new dry ports, one in Punjab and the other in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Of these one would be established near Rawat on the Ring Road while the other will be developed near Hakla Dam in Dera Ismail Khan.
The planned expo centre along Ring Road would be constructed near IIA. The hospital in the project will be built near Chak Beli Interchange whereas the amusement park would be constructed between Chakri and Morat interchanges.
The rates approved by the district price committee for acquiring land for the right of way under the first phase of the Rawalpindi Ring Road project have been sent to the Punjab Board of Revenue for approval.
Further, the Punjab government has transferred some Rs6 billion to the account of the land acquisition.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 2nd, 2020.