Special Assistant to Chief Minister Punjab, Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan on Thursday said that all efforts are being made to start construction work on the long-awaited, Rawalpindi Ring Road Project (RRRP) which would help ease traffic congestion in the city.
Addressing a press conference here at Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) office she said, a meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Punjab had given approval of 38 kilometers long RRRP which would start from G.T.Road and culminate at ‘Thalian’.
She said efforts are underway to expedite the process and kick off the construction work in August, this year.
To a question, Firdous Ashiq Awan informed that RRR Project’s inquiry is in the final stages and the findings of the inquiry committee would be shared with the media and the government would take action in accordance with the law against all illegalities and irregularities conducted in the project.
Read more: Rawalpindi Ring Road inquiry: Is the former commissioner being made a scapegoat?
She further said RDA was making hectic efforts to cater to the needs of the nearly 6 million population of six tehsils of Rawalpindi district. There is a shortage of nearly two million houses in the district, she added.
RDA is trying to meet the challenge that how affordable housing facilities could be provided to poor and needy people of the district, she said adding, the authority is working to launch an affordable housing society and provide relief to the deserving citizens.
Firdous Ashiq further informed that out of a total of 386 housing societies in the jurisdiction of RDA, 62 are approved projects, 60 under scrutiny process while 264 were declared illegal by the authority.
She said,100 are nonexistent societies as they sold out the plots and deceived the citizens but not exist.
She said, RDA as per the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan had launched a crackdown against fake and illegal housing societies and the cases were sent to the authorities concerned for legal action.
He [Zulfi Bukhari] is young so he got a little emotional & offered his resignation, which has not been accepted. He has nothing to do with the scam & he will rejoin the cabinet once the Rawalpindi Ring Road inquiry ends: Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan on Adil Shahzeb's show
— omar r quraishi (@omar_quraishi) June 18, 2021
112 FIRs were lodged in respective police stations, 307 legal notices were also issued to the administration of such housing societies.
Overall, the offices of 135 housing schemes were sealed by RDA. RDA Authorities also forwarded information about fake housing projects to National Accountability Bureau for initiating legal action, she informed.
Special Assistant to CM Punjab informed that RDA also launched a campaign to spread awareness against cheaters and mafias, looted innocent citizens particularly the overseas Pakistanis through non-existent fake housing schemes.
She said, using the quarters concerned, the overseas Pakistanis were also apprised, not to invest in illegal housing projects and check their status before investment as RDA had uploaded all details about legal and illegal housing projects at its official website.
Read more: Is Firdaus Ashiq Awan at fault for slapping PPP’s Mandokhel?
RDA had also set a time frame for the issuance of NOCs and approvals for building plans in order to promote construction activity in the city, she said adding, the authority had decided to take disciplinary action against officers failing to approve building plans in the communicated time frame for applicants who complete the related documentation process.
She said that the implementation of new Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for approval of residential and commercial projects helped promote construction activities in the district in accordance with vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The process of land record digitization is also underway at the RDA and the process would help keep Rawalpindi’s real estate data safe.
She informed that the approval of the projects is now given within fixed time frame which is not only a great facility of the citizens but also helped in increasing revenue of the authority.
Read more: Promoting Sustainable Construction Sector
The RDA which was earlier facing a deficit, collected revenue amounting to Rs 559 million against the set target of Rs 259 million during the current fiscal year. The authority had saved one billion rupees during the last three years, she added.
Firdous Ashiq informed that RDA approved as many as 1300 building plans during one year under a transparent procedure. The submission of the building plans and the entire process were made online.
RDA also introduced two-level underpasses, the first time in the history of Pakistan here and a project of Ammar Chowk is being completed while two other projects at Kutchery Chowk and Defence Chowk would be constructed.
She said, RDA on the directives of Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar introduced reforms in the organization and automation and digitalization proved a great facility for the citizens and ensured transparency.
Read more: PM Imran Khan announces ambitious construction package
The authority delivered a lot during the last three years period as per the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Chairman RDA, Raja Tariq Mehmood Murtaza, Vice Chairman, Haroon Hashmi, and Director General, RDA was also present on the occasion.