28-km Expressway sans landscaping plan

Islamabad : No one will believe that the 28-kilometer Islamabad Expressway, one of the main arteries of the federal capital, has no landscaping plan which speaks about seriousness of the authorities concerned to keep intact the long-cherished slogan of 'Islamabad - the beautiful.'

"Currently, both the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) have no plan even on papers to carry out beautification measures on the Expressway, which is daily used by thousands of visitors arriving the capital from various parts of the country and abroad.

Talking to APP, the official sources in MCI said a persistent rift between the MCI and CDA over fund sharing was blocking its way to materialize the eco-friendly initiatives along the major thoroughfares.

"When there is no funds, there are no plans", they remarked. They said they had worked out several plans to make the capital clean and green including installation of road furniture and tree plantation but most of them could not be materialized due to the paucity of funds.

To a question, the official said currently, CDA had planned several development projects along Islamabad Highway to beat its daily traffic jams as, "this is also another reason behind the delay of up gradation of the artery".

Keeping in mind the meagre resources of MCI, the department was focusing to promote public-private partnership to give Islamabad a civilised look, the official expressed.

He said they had planted around 0.25 million of saplings in the last monsoon season out of which 90,000 were planted by people.

Meanwhile, the sources in CDA said that the Finance Division had held their fund releases for 3rd and 4th quarter of this year due to non-utilization of previously allocated fund which resulted in delay of its own several development projects. An environmentalist Ijaz Ahmed said the highway built after 60s to connect the federal capital with Rawalpindi, Grand Trunk (GT) road and other intra-city major thoroughfares gradually lost their beauty due to mushrooming housing societies along the road.

The Expressway which welcomed its commuters with a scenic view of Margalla hills till the dawn of 21st century, had also hidden behind the tall buildings which were built illegally by some elements, he alleged.

He said some 20 years ago, a commuter on the Islamabad Expressway was supposed to receive cool winds in summer season due to the high number of long and green trees which were unfortunately removed by the builders.

To a question, he stressed on public-private partnership which may help the authorities concerned to escape their financial constraints.

A commuter Ramzan Arif said the authorities concerned were reluctant to the beautification of major arteries and only remained committed to allowing the housing societies to boost their businesses.

He said a clean and green environment was a fundamental right of every citizen and the present government had launched a countrywide drive in this regard. He said, "It seems the departments concerned are totally oblivion to the initiative. "He urged the civic agency to follow the ''Clean and Green Drive'' in true letter and spirit.