Officers housing society without access road

Islamabad : The federal government, in 2008, approved a housing project for officers of BS-20 and above. It took another ten years to start construction work there. Now, as the project is near completion with possession of grey structure of the housing units are being handed to the allottees, there is no appropriate access road.

Situated on old Kurri Road, this area is connected with the main avenue through a narrow road which is 18 feet wide and it is also a communication link for surrounding areas. Needless to mention that the officers’ colony has not become functional yet. As and when it is done, residents will have no place to enter or exit in absence of a sizeable road.

After the allottees mounted pressure, Pakistan Housing Authority Foundation (PHAF) has written to Capital Development Authority (CDA) for providing 100 feet wide access road as promised in the beginning. The scheme namely “PHAF Kurri Road Officers Residencia under Prime Minister’s Housing Programme” was launched by PHAF for the government officers of BS-20 to BS-22 on a piece of land comprising 90.82 acres. It was provided by CDA to PHAF for the construction of 588 grey structure houses.

While elaborate space has been allocated for the civic amenities in the premises of the colony which is near to completion, the existing access road is too narrow to moderate the traffic of the area once the colony is manned by the residents.

Now, PHAF has written to CDA reminding it about an order of Public Accounts Committee regarding the provision of reasonable access road. This is in addition to what CDA had promised in correspondence with PHAF in 2012. While approving the layout plan of the subject scheme, CDA imposed a condition in its letter dated 28th May 2012 that “the sponsors of the scheme shall provide 100 feet wider access/approach road to the scheme.”

“In view of the above, CDA is requested to please reconsider the request of PHAF to provide 100 feet wide and approx..500 meters long passage from south end of the Kurri road out of the already acquired land of CDA as shown in the map,” reads a letter of Chief Executive Officer of PHAF to Chairman CDA.