RAWALPINDI: As many as six firms have submitted their expression of interest for consultancy on the Leh Nullah Expressway and Flood Channel project to the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA).

The civic agency said it would shortlist the firms after Eidul Fitr. The Punjab government has allocated Rs43 million for the feasibility study, detailed design and PC-I of the expressway. The RDA had called the expression of interest (EoI) in mid-March from private companies.

A senior official of RDA said the government wanted to start work on the project to protect the city from flooding in the monsoon season and provide an alternative route between Rawalpindi and Islamabad to end gridlocks on other roads.

He said construction of the expressway would improve the traffic flow and increase trade activities in the area. He said the consultant will submit its report within three to four months about the design of the expressway.

Punjab govt has allocated Rs43m for feasibility, detailed design and PC-I, says RDA official

About land procurement, he said the report would suggest how much land would be required and PC-I would be prepared on the basis of this. He said the work was likely to be awarded to the selected firm by the end of April.

“Under the law, the consultant is hired to ascertain advantages and disadvantages of the project. The consultant will give the real picture about the benefits of the road project,” he said. He said the consultant would also prepare PC-I and come up with suggestions to remove disadvantages, if any.

He said the Punjab government had decided to launch two main projects in Rawalpindi - Ring Road and the Leh Expressway.

The Leh Expressway project was launched in March 2007 and inaugurated by then President Pervez Musharraf. The total cost of the project was Rs20 billion and it was decided that 50 per cent funds would be provided by the federal government and the remaining by the Punjab government.

The Frontier Works Organisation was awarded the contract which started work at the site and was supposed to complete it in two years. However, work on the project has been stopped since the general elections in February 2008.

During PTI’s tenure in 2019, the PC-I was made by a consultant on the public-private partnership (PPP) mode and the cost of the project was estimated at Rs55 billion.

It eventually emerged as a nonviable project on PPP mode owing to insufficient revenue generation in compensation with the high capital cost. In 2023, the mode was changed from PPP to a government-funded project along with the reduction of its length from Kattarian Bridge to Murree Road.

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2025