Ring Road inspection soon before approval of revised PC-I
RAWALPINDI: A team from the Punjab Planning and Development Board will soon inspect the Rawalpindi Ring Road project before approving the revised PC-I, which has escalated its cost to Rs53 billion.
A senior official of the Planning and Development Department told Dawn that the pre-Punjab Development Working Party (PDWP) was held last week and it made some observations on the revised PC-I.
He said three reasons were cited to escalate the cost of the project: hikes in the prices of construction material in the last three years, an increase in the width of bridges along with stone-pitching work to save the road from floods and the construction of toll plazas and Thalian Interchange remodeling on the motorway.
He said the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) also stated in the revised PC-I that the contract had been awarded to the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) on the basis of prices of construction material in the year 2022, but in the last three years a 40 per cent increase had been recorded in the prices.
He said the planning and development board made some observations on the revised PC-I and when the RDA insisted on adopting the changes, the board decided to inspect the work after which the fate of the revised PC-I will be decided.
When contacted, RDA Director General Kinza Murtaza said that there were some observations made pre-PDWP held in Lahore last week and we will remove the objections and send it back in a week.
“The planning and development board team will also visit the project site and check the work done so far. It is a usual practice, when a project completes more than 70 per cent, teams visit the site and check new additions in the project,” she said.
She said that the work was on a fast track and likely to complete in the stipulated time.
“Price escalation is routine in multibillion-dollar projects and after the visit of the Planning and Development Board team, the changes will be visible and they will better understand the urgency to add it,” she said.
She said flood channels were added along Ring Road to protect it from flooding during the monsoon season and remodeling of Thalian Interchange was also necessary.
She said work on the interchanges, bridges and road asphalt had been started simultaneously so it would be completed as soon as possible. Apart from this, she said, work to establish an industrial zone along the Ring Road and shifting of bus stands and goods vehicle stands was also in progress.
It may be noted that the total length of the Ring Road is 38.3km. It will have five interchanges at Baanth, Chak Baili Khan, Adiala Road, Chakri Road and Thalian. An industrial zone will be established around the Ring Road.