ISLAMABAD: The city managers on Tuesday approved PC-1 worth Rs15 billion for a low cost housing apartments project in Alipur Farash.

The Capital Development Authority (CDA)’s Development Working Party approved the PC-1 at a meeting.Once started, the project will be completed in three years and 4,000 apartments will be constructed under three categories. The CDA board had recently approved the project.

Officials said under the first category, 1,560 apartments will be constructed, which will be auctioned to meet the cost of the project.

They said under the second category, 400 apartments will be constructed for slum dwellers mainly those residing in slums of F-6 and F-7, who will be shifted to the apartments.

In the last category, the CDA in collaboration with the Naya Pakistan Housing and Development Authority (NPHDA) will allot 2,000 apartments to people belonging to low income group who would be registered with NPHDA.

The CDA has been making plans for years to shift slum dwellers from city areas to a designated housing scheme but could not translate the plan into reality.

In the past, the CDA made a failed attempt to shift the slum dwellers to Alipur Farash where they had been allotted plots but the allottees returned to the city areas.

The Alipur Farash project was started two decade ago to provide houses to slum dwellers of Essa Nagri I-9, Haq Bahu I-11, Muslim Colony of Bari Imam and Dhoke Najju of I-10. But the project could not succeed.

Now, the CDA is going to construct 4,000 apartments in an adjacent land under its earlier ‘modern shelter urban programme’. CDA officials said the scheme failed due to lack of interest on part of the civic agency.

They, however, said the upcoming scheme is not related to allotment of plots rather state of the art apartments will be allotted to slum dwellers and people belonging to low income group against nominal charges.

They said that the scheme has full backing of the federal government and Prime Minister Imran Khan is also focusing on providing affordable housing to low income groups. The officials said in addition to the scheme, the CDA had also earmarked a piece of land in I-9 for the construction of apartments for slum dwellers.

The CDA-DWP also approved a project worth Rs205 million for widening and improving the roundabout along with adjoining roads at the junction of Khyaban-i-Iqbal and Service Road (East) F-10. The meeting also approved a PC-1 worth Rs2628 million for development work in D-12.

The meeting discussed regularisation of slip roads on Srinagar Highway constructed a few years ago. But auditors observed that the work was carried out without revision of PC-1 of the highway.

Recently, the issue was taken up by Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which agreed with the CDA stance that there was no illegality in construction of the slip roads. It however stated that CDA should get the PC-1 of the already constructed slip roads revised from CDA-DWP to remove the audit objections.

The meeting decided that the issue will be taken up in the next meeting and by then minutes of the PAC will also be received in the light of which the revised PC-1 would be approved.

Published in Dawn, March 31st, 2021