Comsat’s new campus to start functioning soon

ABBOTTABAD: Spread over 500 kanals of land, the new campus of COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT) on the Murree Road here would start functioning soon as construction of one of its major academic blocks has been completed, an official said on Sunday.

Director of CIIT, Abbottabad, Professor Dr Khan Gul Jadoon, told reporters the land at Dhamtore on the Murree Road in Abbottabad, was acquired in 2012 on reasonable price for the second campus of CIIT Abbottabad.

“The Rs860 million worth first phase of the project was initiated a few years ago. One of the academic blocks of 50,000 square feet has been completed where two departments will be shifted,” he said. He added that the second academic block would be completed by the end of 2017.

He said the approach road, tube-well and electrification had also been completed in the new campus and the process of provision of gas has been started. Dr Khan Gul Jadoon said the second phase of the campus costing Rs2700 million is in the planning stage.

"Despite the fact that the price of the land in Abbottabad is high, we managed to buy 500 kanal for the campus in the suburbs of the city at a nominal rate. I express thanks to the people of Dhamtore who showed keen interest in getting the campus established in their area," he said. Dhamtore is a historical place sited just six kilometers away from Abbottabad on the Murree Road. It is the main market for the surrounding villages and is inhabited by the Jadoon tribe.