A New Turn In Leh Expressway and RRR Projects, Further Delayed

Rawalpindi: As per the latest news the two mega projects of Rawalpindi namely Leh Expressway and Rawalpindi Ring Road (RRR) Projects have been delayed further for an unspecified period of time. The commissioner Rawalpindi Syed Gulzar Hussain had announced that the Prime Minister would perform the stone-breaking of the projects on Dec 25 but as per the latest updates the Preparations for the inauguration have been stopped and even the Leh Express Way could not get its approval by the ECNEC and even the project is not on the agenda of the ECNEC till Dec 30, 2021, which means the government will not be able to start the project even during this year.

The two mega projects of Rawalpindi have been delayed several times over the past fifteen to twenty years which has already resulted in the cost of projects manifold. Rawalpindi Leh Expressway Project, for instance, was approved for the first time in 2006 at a cost of Rs 17 billion during the reign of General Pervez Musharaf but now the cost has reached the 100 billion mark despite there being a significant reduction in the length of the Road. The Rawalpindi Ring Road Development (RRR) has been pending for the last 21 years.

As per information received from the concerned authorities, the stone-breaking ceremony has been officially canceled and for the next couple of months, there is no chance of a stone-breaking ceremony even if the project gets the approval of the ECNEC by the end of January next year. Sheikh Rashid Shafiq when contacted told that after approval of the competent authority the projects will be inaugurated by the end of January or at the start of February next year.