Chronic delays stall key projects

Ring Road and Kahuta Road projects risk missing revised completion targets

RAWALPINDI:

Despite repeated assurances and substantial budgetary allocations, the authorities in Rawalpindi have once again failed to ensure the timely execution of two key development schemes – Rawalpindi Ring Road and Rawalpindi–Kahuta dual carriageway – in the Rawalpindi region.

The persistent delays not only underscore chronic administrative inefficiency and poor project management but also continue to deprive the region of much-needed infrastructure and economic connectivity.

The long-delayed Rawalpindi Ring Road project, under the supervision of the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA), has stalled yet again, while work on the Rawalpindi–Kahuta dual carriageway—a vital link connecting the city with Azad Jammu and Kashmir's Rawalakot and Kotli districts via Sihala and Kahuta—has also come to a virtual standstill despite the allocation of substantial funds in the Federal Budget 2025–26.

The likelihood of meeting the completion deadline set by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz - December 2025 - appears increasingly remote, with the Ring Road project now expected to become operational by March 2026.

With barely two months and 10 days remaining until the CM's deadline, only 40 to 45 per cent of the project's physical work has been completed. The RDA spokesperson, however, maintains that 72 per cent of the overall work has been achieved.

The Ring Road project, extending 38.3 kilometres from Banth Morr on GT Road to the Thallian Interchange on the Motorway, remains far from completion. Work on several stretches of the route is still pending, and five major interchanges - Banth, Chak Beli Khan, Thallian, Adiala, and Chakri Road - are yet to be fully constructed.

Furthermore, the design of the terminal Thallian Interchange has been revised to a broad-based configuration, necessitating additional land acquisition. This redesign has also pushed up the overall cost of the project, requiring approval of a fresh, revised PC-1.

A number of key structures along the alignment - including two river bridges, seven nullah bridges, one railway bridge, eleven overpasses, ten subways, and fifty-three culverts - are still awaiting completion. In certain sections, particularly between Banth Morr and Chak Beli Khan, the road remains so underdeveloped that even the base layer of gravel has yet to be laid.

Currently, the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO), the project's contractor, is executing work under a revised PC-1 valued at Rs33 billion. However, the upgraded design of the Thallian Interchange will require the preparation and approval of yet another revised PC-1.

Meanwhile, an RDA spokesperson reiterated that 72 per cent of the work has been completed, affirming that, in accordance with Chief Minister's directives, efforts are being made to ensure the Ring Road project is completed and made operational at the earliest possible opportunity.

On the other hand, the project for the dual carriageway of the vital Rawalpindi–Kahuta Road has come to a virtual standstill despite the allocation of substantial funds in the federal budget. The scheme also envisages the construction of an overhead bridge at the Sihala railway crossing.

Even after the lapse of three months and 20 days of the current financial year, progress on the project remains painfully slow. Thus far, only a one-kilometre section—stretching from Kahuta Y-Cross to Hothla Stop—has been dualised, while work on the segment from Y-Cross to Kahuta city is yet to commence.

It is worth noting that the 28.4-kilometre stretch of Kahuta Road from Kahuta to Rawalpindi Sawan was earmarked for dualisation. However, construction has ground to a halt at Hothla Stop, and no preparatory marking has been carried out for the remaining 27.4 kilometres. Similarly, work on the Sihala overhead bridge has yet to begin.

This strategically important route—classified as a Defence Road owing to its dual linkage with Azad Kashmir—was allocated Rs23.845b under the current year's federal budget.

The project was earlier approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on July 27, 2023. Yet, despite this formal approval, physical work on the scheme only lingered on paper until the latest budgetary allocation.

According to informed sources, the delay in the dualisation of the Rawalpindi Sawan Camp–Kahuta section has led to severe traffic congestion, causing immense inconvenience to commuters. The mounting traffic load has resulted in frequent accidents, prolonged travel times, and disruption to commercial and official activities. At the Sihala railway crossing, long queues of vehicles are a daily occurrence whenever the gate is closed.