The government of Punjab has dropped 7 very important uplift projects for Rawalpindi from the annual provincial budget this year due to financial constraints.
The government has dropped some important infrastructure projects and included Ring Road, Lai Expressway, Ammar Chowk, and other road infrastructure projects, however, but with a lesser amount. These projects of development plan too could be delayed because of the lesser amount reserved for these projects.
The 7 uplift projects which are been excluded from the development plan for Rawalpindi are Liaqat Bagh to Marir Hassan signal free road, Katchehry chowk remodeling, Defense chowk remodeling, Double road IJP junction remodeling, two-way Lahterar road, Khanna road to Khan bridge, Chungi No.8, construction of more floors in Fawara chowk parking plaza.
For the mega project of the ring road, only a partial amount for the acquisition of land has been allocated in this financial year. In the same way, only 50 million rupees have been fixed instead of 3 billion rupees for this financial year for Lai Expressway and that too, only for the acquisition of land. For Ammar Shaheed chowk, only 150 million rupees have been allocated which is far less than the estimated cost of 754 million rupees.
The construction of two pedestrian bridges on Abdul Qadeer Khan road, Airport road, and the Dry Port road has been included this year but due to a lesser amount of allocated funds, these projects too could be delayed.
The remodeling of Katchehry chowk is the need for time as this is the most important chowk where a number of crowded roads meet. It was fairly expected that the government of Punjab would not ignore the remodeling of this very important chowk.
The same is the case with Defense chowk, where road blockage is a matter of routine. Maximum residents of Defense Colony phase 1 and 2, including Baharia Town, cross this chowk on a daily basis. Ignoring these two projects from the 7 projects in Rawalpindi by the government of Punjab in the current budget is unfathomable.
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