RR project: Rs2.5b yet to be recovered from landowners

Irregular transfer and posting of senior administrative officers hits recovery drive

RAWALPINDI:

Even after one year, no progress could be made for the recovery of of over Rs2.5 billion earlier paid to landowners against the acquisition of land for the Rawalpindi Ring Road project.

The Punjab government had paid more than Rs2.5 billion to the landlords for the land acquisition before the Ring Road scandal surfaced.

The Punjab Revenue Department could not come up with a plan to recover the money from the landlords.

Former Land Collector Wasim Tabish had acquired lands along the Ring Road in Attock loop and Rawalpindi. The Punjab government had issued two separate awards for land acquisition in both the districts.

Refunds and land transfers from recipients have become an uphill task for the officials concerned.

Sources told The Express Tribune that over 6,603-kanal of land was acquired in the Rawalpindi district for the Rawalpindi Ring Road project and a sum of Rs1.673 billion was paid to the owners for acquiring the land.

Land had been acquired in 32 different locations in Rawalpindi including Mankiala, Bagashikhan, Chak Thoba, Chak Khas, Losar and Khengar Kalan.

Sources said that with the approval of the Punjab government, 4,474-kanal of land was acquired in the Attock loop at a cost of Rs3.418 billion.

Sources said that in Rawalpindi and Attock loop, over Rs 2.5 billion was paid to the owners in the form of compensation while in some areas the owners had refused to accept the money.

The Rawalpindi Ring Road scandal surfaced in March last year and the Punjab government cancelled the project and suspended 15 officers, including former commissioner Muhammad Mahmood.

The sources said that the main reason for the delay in the recovery because of the constant transfer and posting of senior district administrative officers.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 18^th, 2022.