The fate of the Rawalpindi district hung in the balance in terms of infrastructure development and progress last year as the severe financial crunch in Punjab proved fatal for the district.
Despite tall claims and loud announcements, not a single mega project for development and public welfare could be initiated. Ten mega projects with revised upward costs have still been pending.
Due to the non-allocation of funds for these 10 projects in the last three years, these projects have become white elephants as their estimated cost has swelled by 40 to 60% owing to the soaring costs of building materials in the country's history.
Among these 10 mega projects are Ghazi Brotha Water Supply, Ring Road, Leh Express, Daducha Dam, Sewage Treatment Plant, Rawal Dam filtration plants' upgradation, Zacha Bacha (mother-child) Hospital, Chahan Dam Water Supply Scheme, Commercial Parking Plaza, and lying of new small diameter pipeline in the obsolete cemented pipeline from Rawal Dam to Rawalpindi city.
Many more projects were also added to the Annual Development Programme (ADP) but not even a single penny of funds was released for any of them. The Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA), the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA), the District Council and the Municipal Corporation (MC) expressed their excuses for initiating these projects due to the non-availability of funds.
Rawalpindi was supposed to get 400 million gallons of water per day through three phases of the Ghazi Barotha Water Supply project to cater to water requirements for the next 100 years. For this, a 60 km water pipeline of 80 diameter was to be laid from Ghazi Barotha to Sangjani. Its estimated cost was Rs17 billion in 2006, which has now risen to Rs105b due to continuous delays.
The Leh Express, a 30km signal-free road project, was started in 2008 but was closed when the PML-N came to power. Its estimated cost at that time was Rs17b and now has reached Rs100b today.
Moving forward, a sewage treatment plant project was to be built to completely eliminate flooding in Rawalpindi city during monsoons with an estimated cost of Rs30b in 2019, which has now reached Rs60b. Under this, a large sewage pipeline with 10 feet width was to be laid on both sides of the lake.
Similarly, the 5,500 kanal Gorakhpur water treatment plant was to be set up on the WASA land but it was also delayed. The foundation stone of the Rawalpindi Ring Road (RRR) project was laid in 2022. The work started but was stopped as the government changed. For the past three years, RDA officers and commissioners have been making announcements about the RRR project every month, but delayed funding has "practically" stalled the key project.
As the estimated cost of the 38km long RRR has increased by around 40% and still the files for preparing its new estimated cost have become a rolling stone between Punjab and the federation. The Punjab chief minister set deadlines for the completion of the project three times but to no avail.
Daducha Dam project was initiated in 2005 and the work on it started in 2021. But it also suffered due to lack of funds as its estimated cost has increased by Rs2b.
The new water supply project from Chahan Dam to meet the water requirement of the water-deprived union councils (UCs) and Cantonment areas also faced a paucity of funds at the outset. The estimated cost of the project was initially Rs3b, which has now touched Rs6b. This year this key scheme was also halted due to the non-disbursement of funds.
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