Financial and technical proposals for the Leh Expressway project have been approved and the sewerage treatment plant has also been included in the new proposal.
The project is expected to cost Rs70 billion which will be built under the public-private partnership (PPP) model.
Federal and Punjab governments will equally share Rs 24 billion for the acquisition of land while the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will fund Rs10 billion for the installation of the sewerage treatment plant. The federal government will approve the financial and technical proposals following the formal approval of the PC-1.
The Leh Expressway project has been on hold for the last 15 years but the process for its construction has been expedited and its foundation stone will be laid by the end of this year.
Rawalpindi Commissioner Gulzar Hussain Shah has also taken a key interest in completing the project since he has assumed the additional charge of the Director-General (DG) of the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA).
The RDA has decided to forward the project concept (PC-1) of the Leh Expressway project, already approved by the Provincial Development Working Party (PDWP), to the federal government for final approval.
Under the project, sewage of the city and cantonment areas pouring into the Nullah Leh will be channelled through huge trunks to take it to the treatment plant near Gorakhpur in the Adiala area.
A sewerage treatment plant worth Rs10 billion will be set up there while its funding will be done by the ADB. The sewerage treatment plant had earlier been dropped owing to a shortage of funds.
Under the project, a separate treatment plant will be established for treating the wastewater of Islamabad before the clean and rainwater is passed through the Nullah Leh.
The movement of sewage through the trunks beneath both sides of the road will allow the flow of only clean water in Nullah Leh including water from the catchment area of Islamabad.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 21st, 2021.
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