Govt re-releases funds for two mega schemes

The Punjab caretaker government has re-released the withheld funds for two mega road infrastructure projects for the garrison city, including the Rawalpindi Ring Road project and the Kachehri Chowk underpass and flyover project.

Sources said the provincial finance department has issued a formal letter to transfer the funds of these projects to the account of Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA), the executing agency of these projects.

The caretaker regime has issued instructions to once again start the work on the two road infrastructure projects by releasing the previously released funds for the two projects, which had been withdrawn earlier.

The cost of the Rawalpindi Ring Road project was fixed at Rs26 billion and the contract of 38.8 kilometres of track from GT Road Rawat to Thalian Motorway Interchange of this project was awarded to the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) for Rs22.86 billion by the previous government.

According to sources, the said contract is likely to be terminated and a decision has been taken to determine the cost of the project through a third-party validation, making a new alignment for re-routing of the project.

The re-released funds for this project stand at Rs42 million. The Ring Road project has been delayed for the past 17 years.

The progress in this project has also been delayed due to the change of route and the inability to determine the mode of obtaining funds under the joint funding of the federal and Punjab governments or through a public-private partnership to take a loan from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), China for funds in the past.

The Ring Road is a much-needed project by Rawalpindi city, cantonment and Islamabad.

The second project is the Kachehri Chowk project, the cost of which was estimated at Rs5 billion and its funds were withdrawn. However, now Rs1 billion have been released for this project.

The Kacheri Chowk project is a mega project of redesigning and remodelling underpasses and chowks to enable a smooth flow of a large number of vehicles.

This is a big project in the area after Faizabad in Rawalpindi and Peshawar Mor Interchange in Islamabad.

The traffic reaching Kachehri Chowk from GT Road, Mall Road, Adiala Road, VIP route, Rashid Minhas Road and other routes will be able to flow smoothly after its completion.

At this time, the traffic flow is disrupted due to the increasing pressure of traffic at the Kachehri Chowk.

Now instructions have been issued to the RDA to make progress on these two projects without further delay. The rest of the funds have also been asked to be released in a phased manner.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 26^th, 2023.