ISLAMABAD: If all goes as planned, the residents of Islamabad will have a cinema, a food court and a football ground on the rooftop of a parking plaza in Blue Area.

During a meeting, CDA Chairman Amer Ali approved the designs of two out of six proposed parking plazas, allowing a drive-in cinema, food court and a football ground on the rooftop of one of the parking plazas to be constructed on 1.5 acres near Centaurs Mall. This parking plaza will have the capacity for parking of 900 vehicles.

The design of the second plaza, which will be constructed on a 120x170 square-foot plot near Khyber Plaza Blue Area was also approved. The rooftop of this parking facility will be utilised as an open sitting area. It will provide parking facility to 300 vehicles.

Both parking plazas will have basements and ground-plus five storeys.

“Today, I approved the designs of these two parking plazas and have directed to finalise the PC-I as soon as possible to place it before the upcoming meeting of CDA’s Development Working Party (DWP) meeting for approval. After completing the tendering process, work will be started in July this year,” the CDA chairman told Dawn. He said food courts, an entertainment zone and other allied facilities will be auctioned to make the project sustainable.

He said four more parking plazas will also be constructed in Blue Area’s F-8 and F-10 portion. Currently, their designs are being prepared.

Proposed facility near Centaurus Mall will have a drive-in cinema, food court and a football ground on its rooftop, says CDA

“We will construct six plazas in total, and in July we will start construction work on two of them,” he said and added that by next month the designs of the remaining four plazas will also be finalised.

Sources said the meeting also decided that 10pc area of these two parking plazas will be utilised for commercial purposes to generate funds to meet the construction cost.

In August last year, the DWP had approved the hiring of a consultant to conduct the feasibility study to develop new parking spaces in the capital.

Later, a consultant was hired who completed his initial designing.

According to CDA’s documents, the project will cost Rs35.8 million and be completed in eight months. The document said an estimated 350,000 vehicles enter and leave Islamabad every day while an equivalent number were owned by the capital’s residents.

“The growth rate of vehicle ownership in Islamabad is much higher than the national growth rate,” it said.

“The growing motorisation combined with inadequate management strategies, change in land use and transportation planning, have led to a significant level of traffic congestion resulting in the lack of parking space,” it said.

In the past, the CDA had constructed two underground parking plazas in Jinnah Super Market but both the facilities are under-utilised due to negligence of the CDA coupled with lack of interest among motorists to park their vehicles in the abandoned underground parking space.

“Our past experience failed so this time we hired a professional consultant who recommended for parking plazas,” said an official of the CDA.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2021