RAWALPINDI: The Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) will decide the fate of the Kutchery Chowk Remodelling Project after reviewing the traffic management plan which will likely be submitted by the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) by the next week.

RDA Chief Engineering Dr Habibul Haq Randhawa said the FWO has been asked to submit the plan by the mid of the next week. After vetting the feasibility of the plan, the civic body would decide whether to give a green signal or postpone the multi-billion rupees project.

In case, the project is given a nod, the state-owned contractor, after the issuance of the work order, would kick off round-the-clock construction on the site.

It may be noted here that the provincial government has already issued Rs1 billion for this project, but the work on this project still has not started.

If these funds are not utilised by the next month, then the money will be redirected to finance multiple projects in southern Punjab, a senior official of the RDA said.

Project’s fate to be decided next week as FWO asked to propose alternative plan

He claimed that the Pindi district administration and the traffic police were reluctant to back the project due to potential traffic logjams as a result of the construction.

RDA Director General Saif Anwar Jappa said more than 100,000 vehicles pass through the Kutchery Chowk on a daily basis.

In case of its remodelling by the FWO, there would be no additional space to reroute vehicles which would result in traffic congestion — a cause of concern for the civic body.

Another minor issue to start the project is the procurement of about 4.6 marla land of Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU), which the RDA has not acquired so far.

However, a meeting of all stakeholders will be held next week wherein it will be decided whether or not to launch the project during the current fiscal year, he added. According to Mr Jappa, the civic body would not hesitate to start the mega project if a better traffic management plan was submitted to it by the contractor.

Mr Jappa feared that the project’s cost would be escalated further in case of more delays.

He said the cost of the project had escalated from Rs4.879 billion to Rs6.422 billion in the last two years for two reasons: an extra flyover and 25pc increase in the prices of construction materials.

Under the project, a flyover will be constructed to cater to traffic coming from Rawat via Grand Trunk Road and the upcoming Rawalpindi Ring Road.

It will provide a commuting facility to 131,500 vehicles per day.

It may be noted that this intersection remains busy from morning till late at night.

Due to the VVIP movement, motorists, transport, and citizens remain stuck in traffic.

In order to deal with this issue, the main square will be made signal-free and will have two-storey flyover and will be the first of its kind in the country, as per the RDA plan.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2023