Cold storage: Punjab govt losing interest in Pindi Ring Road project
Successive governments failed to arrange finances for the project, which was approved in 1991 .
DESIGN: TALHA KHAN
RAWALPINDI:
The Punjab government seems to have lost interest in pursuing the Rawalpindi Ring Road Project as it has failed to attract investors for the multi-billion rupee plan.
Approved in 1991, successive governments have failed to materialise the project due to political instability and other factors. Failure to complete the project is one of the factors contributing to the haphazard expansion of the city.
Oddly, since the project was first discussed, no government has opposed the idea, as it is seen as a necessity to ease the traffic load in the city.
“The project was aimed at improving connectivity and economic growth, reducing environmental harm, and ensuring planned expansion of the city,” said a senior Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) official.
The dusty project file was taken out again and approved in 1997 during the second term of incumbent Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, but the project was dumped after the government failed to finance it.
At present, city planners term the Ring Road project far more important than the Leh Expressway and the ongoing Metro Bus project as it could contain unplanned urbanisation.
The RDA official told The Express Tribune that the government should have built it in phases if it had failed to convince investors to finance the entire project.
The length of the proposed road, according to the plan approved in 1991, was 40 kilometres, which was increased to 54 km in 1997 after accounting for the increase in population. “The city would not have spread so rapidly if the project materialised at that time,” the official said.
The file was reopened by the provincial government in January 2011. After completion of a feasibility report, the length of the proposed road was further increased to 70 km and given a four-year completion deadline.
The road would start from Channi Sher Alam near Rawat and cross Girja Road and Chakri Road, linking to the under-construction new Islamabad airport in Fateh Jhang.
In January 2011, the project cost had reached Rs73 billion, of which Rs22.38 billion were set aside for acquisition of land.
Under the original plan, around 12,655 kanal of land had to be acquired for the 300-foot wide road.
The project would have been implemented on build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis.
In an effort to attract investors, the Punjab Chief Minister, Shahbaz Sharif took the proposal for the implementing of the project on his visit to China in 2011, but failed.
Neither foreign nor local investors have expressed interest in the project, which is supposed to be an essential part of Rawalpindi’s road infrastructure.
The incumbent Punjab government had proposed to acquire 20,786 kanals of land to set up an economic zone on both sides of the road and had also agreed to pay the cost of land acquisition.
The provincial government expected to earn Rs111.39 billion from the sale of plots in the economic zone. Besides, creation of an economic zone would have created thousands of job opportunities.
The government also tried to attract investors by offering them the right to collect toll taxes for a period of 15 years, with 50 per cent of the amount going to the RDA. This incentive also failed to attract investors. Out of the salable area of 9,000 kanals, the government offered to hand over 500 kanals to the investors, but even that failed to convince any financier.
Containing urbanisation
The rapid and unplanned growth of the city would have been contained if the project had materialised. “Random urbanisation has engulfed several rural areas such as PP-6,” said the RDA official.
He said that those localities were consuming the resources of the city. Besides, the city has become congested, with inadequate water and health facilities and sewerage planning.
The pressure on the city’s resources has also led to a sharp rise in crime.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 22nd, 2015.
The Punjab government seems to have lost interest in pursuing the Rawalpindi Ring Road Project as it has failed to attract investors for the multi-billion rupee plan.
Approved in 1991, successive governments have failed to materialise the project due to political instability and other factors. Failure to complete the project is one of the factors contributing to the haphazard expansion of the city.
Oddly, since the project was first discussed, no government has opposed the idea, as it is seen as a necessity to ease the traffic load in the city.
“The project was aimed at improving connectivity and economic growth, reducing environmental harm, and ensuring planned expansion of the city,” said a senior Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) official.
The dusty project file was taken out again and approved in 1997 during the second term of incumbent Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, but the project was dumped after the government failed to finance it.
At present, city planners term the Ring Road project far more important than the Leh Expressway and the ongoing Metro Bus project as it could contain unplanned urbanisation.
The RDA official told The Express Tribune that the government should have built it in phases if it had failed to convince investors to finance the entire project.
The length of the proposed road, according to the plan approved in 1991, was 40 kilometres, which was increased to 54 km in 1997 after accounting for the increase in population. “The city would not have spread so rapidly if the project materialised at that time,” the official said.
The file was reopened by the provincial government in January 2011. After completion of a feasibility report, the length of the proposed road was further increased to 70 km and given a four-year completion deadline.
The road would start from Channi Sher Alam near Rawat and cross Girja Road and Chakri Road, linking to the under-construction new Islamabad airport in Fateh Jhang.
In January 2011, the project cost had reached Rs73 billion, of which Rs22.38 billion were set aside for acquisition of land.
Under the original plan, around 12,655 kanal of land had to be acquired for the 300-foot wide road.
The project would have been implemented on build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis.
In an effort to attract investors, the Punjab Chief Minister, Shahbaz Sharif took the proposal for the implementing of the project on his visit to China in 2011, but failed.
Neither foreign nor local investors have expressed interest in the project, which is supposed to be an essential part of Rawalpindi’s road infrastructure.
The incumbent Punjab government had proposed to acquire 20,786 kanals of land to set up an economic zone on both sides of the road and had also agreed to pay the cost of land acquisition.
The provincial government expected to earn Rs111.39 billion from the sale of plots in the economic zone. Besides, creation of an economic zone would have created thousands of job opportunities.
The government also tried to attract investors by offering them the right to collect toll taxes for a period of 15 years, with 50 per cent of the amount going to the RDA. This incentive also failed to attract investors. Out of the salable area of 9,000 kanals, the government offered to hand over 500 kanals to the investors, but even that failed to convince any financier.
Containing urbanisation
The rapid and unplanned growth of the city would have been contained if the project had materialised. “Random urbanisation has engulfed several rural areas such as PP-6,” said the RDA official.
He said that those localities were consuming the resources of the city. Besides, the city has become congested, with inadequate water and health facilities and sewerage planning.
The pressure on the city’s resources has also led to a sharp rise in crime.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 22nd, 2015.