New Islamabad International Airport: Land acquisition cost likely to rise three times

From the original Rs3.2m per acre, the cost is proposed to be revised to Rs9.7 million

ISLAMABAD:

Despite concerns raised by the Planning Commission (PC), the government is set to triple the price that it will pay for acquiring land to construct access roads to the New Islamabad International Airport amid allegations that some influential people will be the main beneficiaries.

The move to increase the rate, which the PC termed “too high”, will push up the overall cost of land acquisition and compensation for the construction of approach roads by over five times, according to official documents.



As against the Rs932.4 million cost approved in 2012, the Ministry of Communication has proposed revising it upwards to roughly Rs6 billion. The project was among the schemes tabled for approval before the Central Development Working Party last week. However, the committee could not take up the project because of paucity of time, officials said.

Under the original plan, the land cost was Rs3.2 million per acre, which had now been proposed at Rs9.7 million, showed the documents.

“The Rs9.7 million cost is too high when compared with the original approved cost and even higher than the Rs2.34 million per acre paid for land for the Karachi-Lahore Motorway under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor,” according to a technical appraisal conducted by the PC.



Sources in the PC told The Express Tribune that some influential politicians and businesspersons close to the ruling party leadership would be the main beneficiaries of the price increase.



The New Islamabad International Airport is already facing delays and its cost is expected to cross Rs80 billion against the planned Rs37 billion.

The revised project plan, awaiting the PC’s approval, includes acquisition of overall 4,020 kanals of land including a vast barren area. The total land area would cover 498.2 acres for the construction of a 25.9km road network touching the new airport, showed the documents.



Earlier, the PPP government had approved the PC-1 for acquiring 2,347 kanals or 291 acres for the construction of 30.8 km of approach roads having Right of Way (ROW) of 50 metres.

In the revised PC-I, the government has added 207 acres more. The only plausible justification could be the increase in ROW, which is now proposed in the range of 60m to 100m.

The criteria for setting ROW were missing. The PC was also unaware of any field survey and validation of the proposed alignment.



Even if the government added 207 acres, the cost did not increase to the level that the Ministry of Communication was suggesting, said the PC sources.

The government has reduced the length of roads from 30.8 km to 25.9 km, which will cut the land requirement.

After initially considering constructing alternative access roads, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had agreed to stick to the old alignment, terming it the most effective option. He approved a summary to stick to the old alignment early this year.



Had the government altered the original routes, it would have required 1,652 acres of land, costing Rs13.3 billion. Yet, despite sticking to the original plan, the increase in cost was unjustifiable, the sources said.

Under the October 2012 PC-I, the cost of one kanal was Rs400,000, which the National Highway Authority (NHA), the executing agency, has now proposed to be revised to Rs1.15 million. The compensation cost is only Rs216 million for 14,000 square metres.

The PC has also expressed doubts over the NHA claim that it will complete the project by June next year. Another objection was that housing societies were providing 130 kanals free of charge, but now the NHA was collecting Rs2.5 million for this.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 3^rd, 2015.

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