Govt to invite Ring Road tenders next week

ISLAMABAD:

Tenders for the Rawalpindi Ring Road project will be invited launched next week, Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Minister Asad Umar was informed on Thursday.

He was told that the international tender for the Rawalpindi Ring Road project had been prepared and it would be published in the newspapers by next week.

The minister was briefed by Rawalpindi Commissioner Muhammad Mehmood, in a meeting held to review progress on the flagship project of the twin cities.

Special Assistant to PM on Capital Development Authority (CDA) Ali Nawaz Awan and top officers of the planning ministry attended the meeting.

Mehmood informed the minister that the proposed length of the Ring Road was 64 kilometers which would start from Rawat and pass through Motorway M2 and M3 and end at Sangjani point. The road would consist of six lanes and eight interchanges.

Briefing about the progress of the Ring Road project, the Rawalpindi commissioner said the feasibility study of the project had been completed and alignment had also been finalised.

Further, the minister was informed that the 65 kilometers of roadway, up to Sangjani, had also been identified while the payment process for the acquisition of land had also been started.

Appreciating the work done by the Rawalpindi administration, Asad Umar said the project would be very helpful in improving the traffic system in Rawalpindi city as the long-standing issues of the city's traffic would be resolved. He said with this project, the economic activities in the area would also speed up.

The minister directed to fix the timeline for project completion and further increase the pace of progress. He said once the timeline is fixed, there should be no delay in the given time.

Compensation payment

Commissioner Mehmood on Thursday expressed dissatisfaction over the slow pace of the payment to the landowners of the Rawalpindi Ring Road project despite its announcement two months back and directed all the Revenue Department staff to expedite the process.

He said any negligence and delay in the payment process and transfer and possession of the land would not be tolerated.

The commissioner said this during his visit to the Revenue Record Centre Rawat to review land transfer and its payment process. He said the patwaris themselves were responsible for mismanagement and flaws of record-keeping and directed the officials concerned to ensure professionalism and transparency.

Deputy Commissioner Anwarul Haq and Additional Deputy Commissioner Revenue Muhammad Shuaib were also present on the occasion.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 26^th, 2021.