A meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) was held yesterday with the Special Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Shoukat Tarin in the chair. The ECNEC approved the development Projects worth 265 billion including Hyderabad- Sukhur Highway Revised Project worth 191 billion, Rawalpindi Ring Road Project (RRR) worth 23.6 billion, and Land Acquisition for Leh Expressway and flood channel worth 24.9 billion. A couple of days back it was revealed by the newsmen that Leh Expressway And RRR Projects Progress were not included in the meeting agenda of the ECNEC.
As per details, the ECNEC approved a revised scheme of construction of 306 Km long six-lane Hyderabad- Shkhur fenced road at a cost of Rs 191 billion. The project is to be executed by National Highway. Similarly, the Much-awaited two mega projects of Rawalpindi district, namely a 38.3 km six-lane access-controlled Rawalpindi Ring Road at a cost of Rs 23.6 billion and a 24.6 billion land Acquisition for Leh Expressway Project and Flood Channel have also been approved. The meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Asad Umer; Federal Minister for Industries and Production, Makhdoom Khusroo Bakhtiar; Federal Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar; Adviser to the PM on Commerce and Investment, Abdul Razak Dawood and other notables from the provincial and federal government.
However, there are certain conditions imposed by the ECNEC before the execution of the two projects. For instance, The RRR from Baanth (N-5) to Thalian (M-2) will have to seek the consent of the Planning Commission and ensure the inclusion of the Axle load management regime in the project. The project will be financed by the Provincial Annual Development Fund and executed by Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA). Similarly, the project for land acquisition for Leh expressway was conditioned to the completion of the EIA report and approval of the PPP board before making any expenditure in this regard. The acquisition of 750 Kanal of land will be implemented by the RDA. By ensuring compliance with the instructions of the ECNEC the Rawalpindi district will be enabled to start execution of the two long-awaited projects to minimize the public woes of traffic, parking, and encroachment issues in the city.
