Ring Road set for dedicated policing

Authorities approve dedicated management system to oversee operations

RAWALPINDI:

The Rawalpindi Ring Road project has entered its final stage of completion, and a separate policing and management system will be established for its operation.

The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Commissioner Salman Ghani to review beautification and signal-free corridor projects. A detailed briefing was given on the Ring Road's progress, beautification, traffic management and urban facilities.

Commissioner Ghani said the completion of the Ring Road would significantly reduce traffic congestion within the city and improve traffic flow on GT Road, Peshawar Road, Murree Road and other major arteries.

He said shifting heavy traffic to the Ring Road would reduce congestion, travel time, fuel wastage and air pollution in urban areas while providing safer, faster and more convenient travel facilities.

The meeting directed officials to complete and operationalise the project at the earliest and ensure all necessary measures to provide immediate relief to affected local residents.

Officials were informed that 98 per cent of work on the 38.3-kilometre project had been completed. The main carriageway, flyovers, subways, nullah bridges, interchange bridges, river bridges and railway bridges have all been completed. Work on overpasses is 98pc complete, while drainage work stands at 58pc.

Kerbstones, road barriers, road markings, signboards and streetlights have been installed, with only the toll plaza remaining. The project is being completed under the Punjab Ring Road Authority, and a separate policing and management system will oversee its operations.

Meanwhile, details have also emerged regarding the Ring Road service area NOC that led to the removal of the commissioner, deputy commissioner, director general and two other officers from their posts.

Documents include the site plan declaring the service area, minutes approving the change of land use by the District Planning and Design Committee, and signatures of 15 government officials, including the then deputy commissioner. The declaration and NOC for the service area were issued by the then director general of the Rawalpindi Development Authority and endorsed by all relevant authorities. The site plan also clearly identifies service areas and link roads on both sides of the Ring Road.

According to the documents, the notification declaring the service area was issued on January 28, 2026, by then RDA Director General Kinza Murtaza. Approval for the change of land use and related matters was granted at the District Planning and Design Committee meeting on February 11, 2026, chaired by then Deputy Commissioner and committee chairman Hassan Waqar Cheema.

It also decided that approval of building structures would be granted by the relevant local government under applicable zoning regulations and building by-laws.