Maryam orders Pindi ring road construction before deadline

RAWALPINDI: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Thursday visited Rawalpindi Ring Road and ordered to complete the project by December 2024.

Former Senator Pervez Rasheed, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Sania Ashiq, the Punjab chief secretary and other officials were also present on the occasion.NESPAK, Project Management Unit (PMU) and Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) authorities briefed the chief minister on progress of the ring road project.

It was briefed that the project started in September 2023 and all construction would be completed by February 2025.All structures on the way have been removed for the construction of the 38.3 kilometer long road.

About 24 percent work on project has been completed. Five interchanges, 11 overpasses, two rivers, six canals and one railway bridges, while 15 subways and 53 bridges would be constructed on the ring road. A rest area will also be constructed.

Maryam said Rawalpindi Ring Road project was indispensable for ease of transportation of local residents.She said the industrial zones to be built on the project would be a game changer for Rawalpindi and will provide employment to the local people. She said two years had been fixed for the completion of the project, adding that every effort would be made to complete it before the deadline. The CM said quality construction would be ensured in every aspect. She instructed that Rawalpindi Ring Road interchange should be named after the respective village.

Meanwhile, the Punjab chief minister visited Dodochha Dam site and took detailed overview of the construction activities there. The FWO officials briefed Maryam that the resumption of work on Dodochha Dam project was started from November 2023.

The process of releasing water to the spillway for the dam was in progress.In the light of the court’s decision, work is also underway on the revised PC-1 for the re-determination of the land value. Work on site was progressing rapidly, financial progress was 40 percent and physical progress was 12 percent. The dam is located at a distance of 25 km from Rawalpindi.

A total of 16,194 kanals and 14 marla land of Rawalpindi and Kalar Sydaan area were acquired for the construction of Dodochha Dam. The height of the dam is 123 feet, length is 737 feet and catchment area is 129 square miles. The chief minister set a deadline of November 2025 for the completion of the dam.

Additional machinery and work force should be installed at the site and work on different sections should be started, the CM instructed.Pakistan is one of the countries that would suffer from severe water shortage in the coming days, she said.

She said rainwater should be saved from being wasted by building more dams.She said Rawalpindi and other areas were facing severe shortage of water and Dodochha Dam will be able to meet the water requirement.

This dam, being built at a cost of Rs12 billion, would meet a large part of the water needs of Rawalpindi city after its completion, the CM said.The dam will provide 35 million gallons of clean drinking water per day for the city of Rawalpindi, she said.Maryam said that no one will be treated unfairly and the local population was being given the value of their land according to the current rate.