ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has finalised a Rs2 billion project to rehabilitate parts of the capital, which includes carpeting roads in urban areas, pavements, fixing streetlights, upgrading the drainage system and carrying out soft landscaping.

The project was finalised on Monday at a meeting led by CDA Chairman Amer Ali Ahmed and attended by Member Engineering Ayaz Khan and other concerned officials.

The project will cover the G, F and I residential sectors and the H sectors, which house institutions.

Mr Ahmed was told that estimates for all the work that will be carried out under the rehabilitation project are being prepared. He said the aim should be to call tenders in October, and the entire project should be completed in three months.

Roads, pavements, streetlights and drainage to be improved in G, F, I and H sectors

He told Dawn that the project is sorely needed in Islamabad. Since the authority has generated Rs57 billion from auctioning land in the last three months, he said: “Now, it is time to invest in the city’s infrastructure, therefore we are going to start this project.”

After the local government was formed, development work in the capital fell victim to conflict between the CDA and the penniless Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI), both of whom tried to pass the responsibility on to each other.

The MCI has argued that it has not received any funding from the government, and the funds it generates through taxes cannot be spent because its financial rules are incomplete.

In the meantime, the condition of roads, markets and marakiz in residential sectors has deteriorated.

The road networks in almost all the residential sectors are dilapidated. Sources said that it was decided during Monday’s meeting that the CDA’s own Machinery Pool Organisation will begin carpeting roads in the Diplomatic Enclave today (Tuesday).

The ongoing rehabilitation of roads and pavements in I sectors will also be made part of the larger project.

One meeting participant said that while the CDA has initially planned to spend Rs2bn on this project, the estimates are still being finalised.

He said the meeting discussed that the CDA could spend between Rs2bn and Rs3bn, depending on the estimates.

When contacted, Member Engineering Ayaz Khan said that when the project is completed in three months, the city will have a “new look”. He said his office will ensure the work is completed in time and is of good quality.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2020