ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) is all set to start construction work on ‘Alexander road’ to link Islamabad with Haripur area, as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will likely inaugurate this project along with the newly-built Margalla Avenue on Tuesday (today).

There is a well, located on the boundary of Islamabad and Haripur, known as Alexander Well, which is why the road is popularly known as Alexander road. However, there is no official name for this road yet.

Sources said that CDA has made arrangements for inauguration of the newly built Margalla Avenue and widening and overhauling of Shah Allah Ditta to Kentla Road. This 7.5km road will be constructed up to Kenthla Area, where it could be connected with Haripur area in future.

“We will construct this road in the jurisdiction of Islamabad and it will end at the border of Islamabad and Haripur near Kenthla well. On the other side, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is already constructing a road, which could be merged with our road to link Islamabad with Haripur,” said an engineer of CDA.

Arrangements in place for inauguration of project along with Margalla Avenue

He said that Notice Inviting Period (NIT) cost of the road is around Rs380 million and once started, it will be completed within four months.

Currently, there is a local road, which is being used for local people. However, now, CDA is all set to overhaul it and make it a fully widened road. Its widening and overhauling is good for promoting tourism in the area as the centuries-old Buddha Caves are also located in Shah Allah Ditta area.

However, at the same time, there is need for implementation of stringent regulation to control development work at the length of this road.

“Widening of this road is fine. But there should be no relaxation in rules related to construction of buildings. According to existing rules, in Zone III, construction could not take place. There is need to fully enforce these rules after construction of the road, otherwise the existing greenery of Margalla Hills will surely fall victim to the developer mafia,” said an official, adding that many rich and well connected people had their land along the road. “Therefore, there is need to ensure implementation of CDA bylaws and there should be no relaxation in construction work in the area. Otherwise, the eco system will be destroyed,” he said. When asked about funding of the project, another officer said that CDA will widen and overhaul the said road as part of a rural area development package.

The officer said that a few months ago, the federal government had approved a package of Rs10 billion for development work in rural areas.

The CDA, which earlier used to do development work mainly in the city area and local government department of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration, was supposed to execute development projects in rural areas. However, this time round, the CDA was directed by the federal government to launch development package for rural area as well with its own funding.

“In the first phase of this package, we are going to start development work worth around Rs2.7 billion and the road in question is also included in the first phase,” the official said, and added that the road will be 24 feet wide and it will be constructed on the pattern of a road already constructed from the zoo to Monal.

It is relevant to note here that the entire 7.5km long road will pass through Zone III of Islamabad in the middle of Margalla Hills. For this project, the CDA has not gotten approval of Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) from the Environment Protection Agency (EIA).

However, a senior officer of CDA contended that EIA is not required for this project.

“Since, the road in question is not new, rather it is already constructed. We are going to improve and widen it. Therefore, EIA is not required,” he said.

The officer, while making his point, said that for ongoing widening work of Park road, the CDA did not get an EIA. “For widening and overhauling of any existing road, EIA is not mandatory,” the officer said.

Meanwhile, the existing Margalla Avenue from GT road D-12, which was completed and opened for traffic many months ago, will also be formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Sources in CDA said that arrangements were being finalised for inauguration of these two projects on Tuesday by the prime minister.

“We were told that the PM will inaugurate these two projects on Tuesday which is why we have been taking steps to complete inauguration arrangements,” said an official.

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2023