RAWALPINDI: Punjab Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi visited the garrison city on Friday night and inspected the Rawalpindi Ring Road project site and Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) and asked the concerned authorities to speed up work and complete it within the stipulated time frame.

According to a press release, the chief minister said there were no plans to privatise schools in Punjab and clarified that the matter had never been under consideration.

He paid tribute to the dedicated teachers who continued their valuable services amidst such rumours.

Interestingly, land acquisition for the Ring Road project has even not been started yet. The Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) launched work on a 12-kilometre portion of the mega project from Chak Beli Khan to Adiala Road while land has not been acquired in the remaining site of the 38.3km proposed road.

The RingRoadwill have five interchanges at Banth, Chak Beli Khan, AdialaRoad, ChakriRoadand Thalian. A railway bridge will also be constructed along with five flyovers besides 21 small underpasses.

According to a senior official, the district administration has already acquired land from Chak Beli Khan to AdialaRoadand the total length of the roadin this section is 12km.

However, officials of the revenue department said Section 6 of Land Acquisition Act 1983 had been imposed in the area where Ring Road will be constructed. Now, the commissioner will hear public objections and send recommendations to the Board of Revenue to declare the land as a government property.

They said the caretaker government had made it clear that the land would be acquired at the market rate.

Meanwhile, the caretaker chief minister during his visit issued directions to the commissioner Rawalpindi and the FWO officials for an early completion of the project.

He inspected the site of Khasala Khurd Adiala Interchange and reviewed progress made on the project. He ordered to speed up work on the Ring Road project, adding the pace of work should be expedited by deploying additional workforce.

He also directed the commissioner to visit the project regularly and submit a report to him. He remarked that he would himself monitor the Ring Road project. He also visited the camp office of the FWO where Colonel Nadeem gave a briefing to him about the earthwork. He was informed that the road will have six lanes.

The caretaker chief minister also visited Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) where he reviewed the ongoing upgradation work on the OPD and psychiatry block and was briefed by the secretary Communication and Works Department.

Published in Dawn, October 22th, 2023