711 schemes worth Rs595b launched in Pindi under ADP

Rawalpindi:Commissioner Rawalpindi Division, Liaquat Ali Chatta here on Monday said that total 711 schemes worth Rs595.297 billion under the Annual Development Programme (ADP) 2022-23 were launched in Rawal­pindi division.

The commissioner in a meeting with the officers of 33rd Senior Management Course, Inland Study Tour gave a detailed briefing on the profile of Rawalpindi Division to the officers. Additional Commissioner Coordination, Syed Nizarat Ali, Additional Commissioner Revenue, Kinza Murtaza, Director Development Nazia Sudhan, Director Local Government, Director Health Dr. Ansar, Director Colleges Sher Ahmed Satti and other officers concerned attended the meeting.

Rawalpindi is a division of four districts covering 22,991 square kilometres, he said and informed that total population of Rawalpindi is 10.884 million. 105 were new schemes launched under ADP, 2022-23 while 606 were ongoing projects, he said adding, 157 projects had been completed. As many as 37.544 per cent budget released by the government had been utilized on the schemes, he added.

The Mother and Child Care Hospital worth Rs5.32 billion is among the prominent schemes of the Health Department in Rawalpindi Division, he said. Institute of Urology worth Rs5.166 billion is another important project launched in the division with a 60 bed hospital being constructed on Chakri Road, Rawalpindi, he informed.

Two other projects, a 50-bed Trauma centre in Jhelum district and a trauma centre in Tehsil Pind Dadan Khan were also being completed, he said adding, a university of Chakwal worth Rs1.5 billion is among the prominent schemes of the Education Department. Educational Complex in District Attock, Center of Excellence in District Chakwal and Educational Complex in District Rawalpindi were also being completed in the division.

Divisional Public Schools had also been started in all the districts of the division, he said. The most prominent project in the roads sector is the construction of 138 km tourism highway from Lower Topa Murree to Chowk Pandori for which Rs4187 million had been allocated, the Commissioner added.

Four bypasses were also being constructed to resolve the traffic congestion problem towards Murree, he said. Practical steps were being taken to construct parking plazas in Rawalpindi and Murree, he added. The divisional administration’s current focus was on urban flooding, action against hoarders, environmental issues, providing tourist facilities in Murree and the upcoming elections, he informed.

In the recent anti-polio campaign, more than one million children were vaccinated in Rawalpindi Division, he said adding, 57 small dams in the Division had been completed and made fully operational.