RAWALPINDI:
The Rawalpindi Ring Road project, which has faced prolonged delays and repeated controversies, is again shrouded in uncertainty over whether it will be inaugurated on August 14, despite completion of the main route, following a fresh controversy over the no-objection certificate (NOC) for its service area.
The Ring Road controversy has, for a second time, led to the removal of the commissioner, deputy commissioner and other officials from their posts.
According to details, the project was suspended during former prime minister Imran Khan’s tenure after changes to its design and route expansion triggered a controversy that also resulted in the removal of several administrative officers. Since then, the Punjab government has set six deadlines to complete the project.
Following Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s visit, the first deadline was December 30, 2025, followed by March 30, 2026, May 30, June 15, and a target to inaugurate and make the route functional between June 18 and June 22. None of these deadlines was met.
The sixth deadline of August 14 was set after construction of the route from Banth Interchange to a direct motorway link, excluding Thalian Interchange, was completed, while work on eight toll plazas and 16 toll booths continues.
However, a fresh controversy over the NOC for a 102-kanal, 14-marla service area being developed on both sides of the Ring Road has once again created uncertainty over the planned inauguration.
Meanwhile, a division bench of the Lahore High Court has suspended a single bench’s order upholding the NOC and fixed July 16 for the next hearing.
It is pertinent to mention that following the controversy, former Commissioner Engineer Abdul Aamer Khattak, Deputy Commissioner Waqar Hassan Cheema, former RDA DG and incumbent Abad Department Director General Kunza Murtaza, along with two other officers, were removed from their positions and transferred to the S&GAD.
Newly appointed Commissioner Salman Ghani, Deputy Commissioner Nadeem Nasir and Abad Department Director General Rao Atif Raza have assumed charge.
