Ring Road landowners await compensation

Affected residents threaten to protest during Aug 14 inauguration

RAWALPINDI:

It has emerged that owners of hundreds of kanals of land acquired for the 38.5-kilometre state-of-the-art Rawalpindi Ring Road project have not received any compensation despite completion of the scheme.

The land, acquired compulsorily for the project, has yet to be covered by a formal compensation award. Authorities have also not announced the compensation rates or the amount payable to the affected owners.

The landowners have announced they will stage a protest, along with their children, during the Ring Road inauguration ceremony on Aug 14.

They said their land was taken in the national interest and they remained silent for the sake of the project, but authorities were now refusing to compensate them.

A delegation of protesting landowners met MNA Engineer Qamarul Islam. Former union council chairman Zia Mehmood, former naib nazim Haji Arshad Javed, PML-N focal person Raja Ilyas Kayani, Haji Bashir, Malik Muzaffar Hussain, Malik Bilal and Raja Waheed told The Express Tribune that their valuable land had been taken by force.

They said hundreds of kanals of land belonging to around 200 owners in each of seven old settlements had been acquired, but no compensation had been paid despite the road becoming operational. They added that fencing had also been erected around densely populated areas.

They blamed the Rawalpindi Development Authority and Ring Road project management for failing to issue compensation awards for land in Mouza Kahi Mirbaz, Khengar Kalan, Hoshial, Kamalpur and adjoining areas, where the road has already been built.

The landowners urged the Punjab chief minister and Rawalpindi commissioner to take notice of the matter, initiate disciplinary action against those responsible for the delay, issue compensation awards before the inauguration and immediately pay the affected owners.

They also said fencing had blocked access to agricultural land in areas including Mera Mohra Interchange, Mandhal, Dhakki Kalan, Dhok Raja Gul Sher, Khengar Kalan, Hoshial, Kamalpur and Ratti Bin.

MNA Engineer Qamarul Islam said all affected landowners would receive compensation and that the details and their grievances had already been forwarded to the Punjab government and the commissioner.

PML-N leader Raja Ilyas Kayani said a delegation of affected landowners would also travel to Lahore to meet the chief secretary.

He warned that if compensation was not paid, a strong protest would be held during the Ring Road inauguration ceremony, adding that a major demonstration would also be staged outside the commissioner's office this week.

Despite the incomplete Thalian Interchange, the Ring Road has been connected to the motorway to ensure traffic flow. Sources said repeated changes in the interchange's geometry and configuration increased its cost from Rs1.2 billion to Rs4.7 billion.