Rs1 billion released for carpeting of roads in rural areas of Rawalpindi

Rawalpindi

The Punjab government under Khadim-e-Ala Rural Roads Programme (KRRP) has released funds worth Rs1 billion for the carpeting of roads of all rural areas of NA-52, NA-50, NA-51, NA-53, PP-1, PP-2, PP-3, PP-4 and PP-5. 

The city district government, Rawalpindi, has completed all necessary formalities and sent a summary to the Punjab chief minister for final approval to start work on the project.

District Officer (DO) Planning Saima Ghafoor told ‘The News’ that the Punjab government has released funds of Rs1 billion for the development of rural roads in Rawalpindi. “We have chalked out a plan to start work in NA-50, NA-51, NA-52, NA-53, PP-1, PP-2, PP-3, PP-4 and PP-5. We have sent a summary to the Punjab chief minister for final approval. We would start working in May after approval,” she claimed.  

The Punjab government, through its allocation trend in the budget 2015-2016, appears to be focusing on the much-needed development of communication infrastructure in the rural areas in the province as ‘Rural Roads Programme’ got Rs51 billion, almost 74 percent of the road development budget. 

Criticized for metropolis-centred development and ignorant attitude towards the rural areas, the government seems to have attempted to respond to this criticism. The scheme titled Khadim-e-Ala Rural Roads Programme (KRRP) got Rs5 billion in the budget 2014-2015. The total expenditure of the project is Rs15 billion. The government decided to fully fund this project.