As is its wont the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) maintained the norm to leave incomplete a road infrastructure and traffic management extension and remodelling project for a decade.
The project has once again been transferred to Chaklala Cantonment Board (CCB) from RDA in 2021.
In 2020, the decision to award the consultancy contract to General Headquarters (GHQ) Directorate Design and Consultancy (DDC) was taken. The contract was awarded to the consultant company for Rs24.9 million.
However, the consultancy report was supposed to be completed in nine months by award-winning firm General Headquarters (GHQ) while the project would be completed in nine months.
Consequently, the Punjab government had released funds worth Rs500 million to CCB however the actual cost of the project was to be determined after preparation of project concept (PC) I following compilation of consultancy report.
A decade ago, RDA had prepared a consultancy report of the extension of the remodeling project but the project was abandoned. Therefore, the authority has now transferred the project to CCB.
Under the project, the pressure of heavy traffic flow on Ammar Shaheed Chowk would be alleviated after its remodeling and construction of an underpass. The motorists passing through Ammar Shaheed Chowk to different areas of Rawalpindi would be facilitated with a signal-free corridor that would enable smooth traffic flow.
Dearth of graveyards
The Rawalpindi administration failed to develop a new graveyard in the city in the outgoing year as all 54 cemeteries in the city are filled to capacity.
The properly planned Sheher-e-Khamoshan graveyard could not be completed during 30 months long tenure of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.
Some 2,000 kanals land of the model graveyard just has a boundary wall beside the morgue facility for keeping dead bodies adjacent to the entrance gate.
Punjab government had approved and earmarked some Rs 300 million for the Sheher-e-Kahmoshan in the budget of 2017-18. However, no progress was made.
Meanwhile, the grave-diggers mafia is busy demolishing old graves to bury new dead bodies in all graveyards of Rawalpindi.
The graves that are not often visited by family members disappear clandestinely and when the visitors arrive, they keep searching for the graves of their loved ones.
The locals of Rawalpindi are worried as searching a grave to bury a loved one after demise has become a daunting task and have to pay hefty amounts to undertakers to get one.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 4th, 2021.
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