‘Bhara Kahu project vital for public interest’

The cabinet committee formed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for finalising recommendations on the Bhara Kahu bypass project passing through a portion of Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) has said in its recommendations that the project is vital to the public interest.

The cabinet committee headed by Minister for Law and Justice Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb has said that the road project is as per the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and Islamabad Capital Territory master plan and bylaws.

The cabinet committee has said that the completion of the project will improve the flow of traffic on Murree Road and make it easier for commuters. Therefore, it said the federal cabinet should implement the recommendations of the committee.

The recommendations further stated that the CDA should fulfill the promises made to the Quaid-e-Azam University and formulate rules and regulations in light of the amendments made by the cabinet committee. The recommendations have been sent to the federal cabinet for approval.

The cabinet committee also had Adviser to PM on Kashmir Affairs & Gilgit-Baltistan Qamar Zaman Kaira, the federal interior secretary, the federal education secretary, the CDA chairman, the QAU vice-chancellor and Deputy Attorney General Munawar Iqbal Duggal as members.

According to the available documents, the cabinet committee, after hearing the Quaid-e-Azam University and CDA, has said that the master plan may be violated if the land allocated for the residential area was used for a commercial purpose

The cabinet committee further said that although CDA cannot construct new roads as per the master plan, it was possible to do so over time and as per the need for the convenience of the people.

It said that the Bahra Kahu bypass project is the most important need of the time. It said that the land was vacant for a long time and the completion of the project will not have any negative impact on education and research activities in the university. It said that 225-kanal alternative land was being provided to the QAU and the university syndicate has no objection to the project but the petitioner (a university professor) has said that the alternative land being given to the university was of low commercial value.

Meanwhile, the QAU Joint Action Committee has released a fact sheet on the QAU land and the Bara Kahu bypass project

According to the fact sheet, the Bhara Kahu bypass project has far-reaching implications for the university. It said that it violates the sanctity of the only national university in the country and it bisects the campus into two noncontagious barricaded parts.

The fact sheet said that the project separates the entire front of the university on Murree Road from the rest of the main campus thus diminishing any chance of having dedicated road access (from Murree-road) for the university.

Sharing alternative options, the fact sheet suggested said that as per the revised Islamabad master plan, northern and southern ring road bypasses were the long-term solution to the traffic congestion in Islamabad (owing to Murree and Galiyat-bound traffic), whereas the congestion at Bara Kahu may be avoided by constructing an elevated road on the existing Murree Road, as announced by last two successive governments.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 5^th, 2022.