Chakwal incensed at elite club construction
There was widespread dissatisfaction in Chakwal over the district administration’s decision to construct a recreational club instead of a parking plaza at the site of the assistant commissioner’s residence in the centre of the city.
The groundbreaking on the Chakwal Gymkhana Club took place last week, with Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaqat Chatha inaugurating the project at Chappar Bazar, the city's main shopping area. Chakwal Deputy Commissioner (DC) Quratulain Wazir, who was appointed in February, initiated the project, according to the foundation stone.
The club would be spread over an area of eight kanals and 16 marlas, a little over an acre. According to estimates, the club would be constructed at a cost of Rs200-250 million.
As per sources, members of the business community had promised to finance the project, with the Chakwal chamber among those footing the bill.
Meanwhile, local leaders point out, the area was earmarked for the construction of a parking plaza.
Chaudhry Sajjad Ahmed, a former chairman of the district municipal committee, told The Express Tribune that the idea for the parking plaza was unanimously accepted by the municipal council in 2017.
He pointed out that the area already faces traffic congestion. The parking plaza would eliminate the need for vehicles to be parked on the route from Tehsil Chowk to Chappar Bazar Chowk, which will help in reducing traffic congestion in the inner city, said the former chairman of the municipality.
It would also bring in revenue to the tune of Rs30-40 million annually, he added. Without a parking plaza, the traffic issues of Talagang Road will never be resolved, Ahmed asserted.
Local politician Mumtaz Kahot said that the construction of the gymkhana should take place at a different location. He said that the area wasn’t sufficient to house the facilities that a gymkhana should offer.
He added that an exclusive, members-only club in the heart of the congested business district would further highlight the disparity in society. “To avoid a harsh public backlash, the business community should withdraw its support and government officials should pay heed to the people’s demands,” he said.
Another local politician, Akbar Badshah of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, called the project ‘against the interests’ of the roughly two million people in Chakwal. He urged the Chakwal chamber to withdraw its support for the project. “If a gymnasium needs to be built, it may be constructed anywhere,” he said while repeating the demand to construct a parking plaza.
Sardar Ghulam Abbas, a former district nazim echoed the sentiments of the leaders of his rival parties adding that the location for the gymkhana was near Chakwal university, which would compound traffic issues and hamper the institute’s activities.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 7th, 2023.