Public hearing of Nullah Leh Expressway project on May 11
The Rawalpindi Development Authority has decided to hold a public hearing of the Nallah Leh Expressway and Flood Channel project to get the final no-objection certificate (NOC) from the provincial environmental protection agency.
The public hearing will be held on May 11 at the RDA committee. All stakeholders including businessmen, public representatives, Fatima Jinnah Women's University experts, the Punjab Environmental Protection Agency deputy director and representatives of relevant agencies have been invited to the public hearing.
RDA Chairman Tariq Murtaza said that important public objections against the 17-kilometre-long Nullah Leh Expressway and Flood Channel project will be disposed of at the public hearing.
He said that experts and relevant agencies will give a briefing on the project to make it environmental-friendly.
He said that regular notices and advertisements have been issued for the public hearing.
Work on the state-of-the-art Leh Expressway project, which has been pending for 16 years, could not be started by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government despite the fact that two members of the National Assembly from Rawalpindi Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and Sheikh Rashid Shafique are allies of the ruling party.
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The signal-free Leh Express will be built from Ammar Chowk to New Kataria. The Leh Expressway and flood channel project has been envisaged to avoid the catastrophe of Nullah Leh, as an alternative traffic route.
According to the new design, the Leh Expressway will be deepened further by 8 meters to 11.5 meters total while its minimum width will be 25 to 35 meters. The expressway will have 15 feet wide road on both sides from the Sawan River to Ammar Chowk with barriers to protect it from the intrusion of humans and animals.
The proposed project would not only provide a new alternative traffic route in Rawalpindi but also the sewage treatment plant at Gorakhpur through the open sewage cord trunks of Nala Leh due to the flood channel project and eliminate air pollution due to drainage caused by Nala Leh.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 9th, 2022.