Site Proposed For Cricket Stadium In Islamabad

In a meeting held here in Islamabad with the minister planning and development Asad Umer, the civic body has proposed the Said Pur Village as the Proposed Site For Cricket Stadium In Islamabad. The decision for the establishment of a cricket stadium in Islamabad was made during the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCN) Chairman Ramiz Raja with Prime Minister Imran khan last month. The CDA was directed to work out a comprehensive plan in this regard. Last week in a meeting between PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja and CDA authorities it was decided that the CDA would arrange the land and the PCB would be responsible for its construction. The step of the Construction Of Cricket Stadium in the capital was initially taken in 2012 but since the proposed site was lying in the jurisdiction of Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP) the construction of the stadium was stopped by the apex court.

Earlier the Prime Minister after approving the construction of a stadium in Islamabad had directed the PCB Chairman to put all possible efforts to complete the task by the year 2025. It was informed that Pakistan has to host the Champian Trophy in 2025 and the Chairman PCB is of the view that Pakistan does not have more stadiums of International standards so it was important to complete a modern stadium before the Champions Trophy begins. The Islamabad Cricket Stadium is reported to have a capacity of around 60 thousand spectators. The meeting was also attended by Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) Ali Nawaz Awan, CDA Chairman Amer Ali Ahmed, Commissioner Rawalpindi Syed Gulzar Hussain Shah, Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Hamza Shafqat, CDA Member Engineering, and others.

The meeting was also briefed about the design of the stadium which was highly appreciated by the participants of the meeting however it was suggested in the meeting that the site for the stadium would be finalized after looking for a couple of more options in the city and that the Saidpur was not final as yet. The meeting also decided to make Srinagar Highway signal-free and there was also an agreement reached between Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) and CDA to the meeting also decided to make Srinagar highway signal-free and an important decision of the construction of a joint landfill for the twin cities in Mandra. Commissioner Rawalpindi informed that the land for this purpose has already been acquired and construction work has been started by the RDA on the site. It is pertinent to mention here that earlier the CDA was using sector I-12 as a landfill for the capital city, but owing to a severe protest of the allottees and residents of the area, in a meeting with the Chairman CDA Aamir Ali Ahmed in his office, it was decided to not only shift the landfill from the sector but also to start immediately the development work in the sector. The development activities have been recently started and the process of the shifting of the dump will be started soon.