RAWALPINDI: The Rawal Expressway and Flood Channel project, previously referred to as Leh Nullah Expressway and Flood Channel project, has been shelved as the Punjab government is “not ready to fund the mega project without the help of the federal government”.

The project, a brainchild of Rawalpindi MNA Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, has been facing delays since it was first launched in 2006 by former military dictator Pervez Musharraf. At the time, the total cost of the project was Rs20 billion and under the project, a dual carriageway and a concrete structure had to be constructed along Leh Nullah to reduce the risk of flooding during the monsoon season.

However, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government halted the work on the project after coming to power in 2008.

In 2019, after the formation of the PTI government in Centre and Punjab, the project was revived. But despite three plans formulated from 2019 to March 2022, work could not start.

RDA official says Punjab govt wants to spend money on other mega projects

According to a Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) official, the project was put on hold because the government was “not interested” in the execution of the mega scheme.

He claimed that the provincial government wanted to “spend money on other projects, like the Kutchery Chowk Remodeling project and the signal-free corridor from Kutchery Chowk to Motorway Chowk. The RDA official said there had been no work on the project in the current fiscal year.

PTI MNA Sheikh Rashid Shafique, nephew of Sheikh Rashid, said the provincial government would not be able to start the work without the help of the federal government. He said during the PTI government, it was decided that 60pc of funding would be provided by the federal government while 40pc of funds would be provided by the Punjab government.

He claimed the federal government was “reluctant” to finance the project which may have to wait till the next general elections.

In May this year, the RDA renamed the Leh Expressway and Flood Channel project as Rawal Expressway and Flood Channel project.

Besides the name change, the construction cost was also reduced from Rs200 billion to Rs90 billion. Under the new plan, the RDA was supposed to construct a cemented nullah and trunk sewer and 17km of roads on both sides of the nullah from Kattarian Bridge on I.J. Principal Road to Soan Bridge on G.T. Road.

As per the plan, the total width of the concrete nullah and dual carriageway at New Kattarian would be 55 metres which gradually would increase to 80 metres at the ending point at Soan Bridge near Lahore High Court (LHC)’s Rawalpindi bench.

No new bridge will be constructed under the new PC-I while the existing bridges would be repaired and modified. There would also be no interchanges.

It may be noted that PC-I for land acquisition and structural compensation amounting worth Rs25 billion had been approved by Ecnec in its meeting held on December 22, 2021, and administrative approval was given on Jan 19.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2022