ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has yet to issue a letter for the start of construction of a parking plaza in the Blue Area.

There has been a shortage of parking space in Blue Area — one of the business hubs of the city — and citizens have been complaining about it. In December last year, the CDA had awarded a contract to National Logistics Cell (NLC) for the construction of a multi-story parking plaza in the area.

Sources said the bid acceptance letter was issued in January but the letter confirming the start of construction has yet to be issued by the authority. “We do agree that the letter of start is yet to be released. There was a little issue in design, which has been resolved and within the next few days, it will be issued,” said an official of CDA’s engineering wing.

Contract had been awarded to NLC in December last year

According to CDA, the National Logistic Cell (NLC) after submitting the lowest bid of Rs1,274.5 million had won the contract. The car parking plaza will be constructed near Savour Foods along Jinnah Avenue in Blue Area.

The parking plaza will have a capacity to accommodate 1,300 vehicles at a time. Shops will be constructed on the ground floor of this parking plaza which will also increase revenue for the CDA. Open-air restaurants will be set up on the fifth floor of the parking plaza.

An official said once construction began, the parking plaza would be completed in one year’s time.

It is relevant to note here that a couple of years ago, CDA had announced that it will construct six parking plazas in various areas of the city — three in Blue Area, one near Centaurus Mall, one in F-8 Markaz, two in F-10 Markaz, and one plaza each in Karachi Company and I-8 Markaz.

An officer of the CDA said the engineering wing had been working on estimation of three other plazas and at a later stage, the civic agency would go for their tendering process as well.

Earlier, in 2016, the Islamabad Traffic Police had written to the CDA about the shortage of parking spaces in Blue Area and other commercial centres in the city, including F-8 Markaz, where the city’s district courts are situated.

The CDA had decided to build five park-and-ride plazas a few years ago but the plan is yet to materialise. The CDA officials said the civic agency’s board had in 2015 approved the project as well.

Meanwhile, in the past, the CDA instead of constructing multi-storey parking plazas had built two underground parking spaces in Jinnah Super Market, but these parking lots could not be utilised properly despite millions of rupees spent on their construction.

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2022