Islamabad: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has decided to realign a 100-foot long portion of Margalla Road to preserve a century-old graveyard near Shah Allah Ditta, news sources reported on May 29. The new position will be shifted towards the south of the graveyard near sector D-13.
Reportedly, to preserve the graveyard, the CDA engineering wing had considered three options; building a flyover, an underpass, and realigning the road. The authority, however, chose the less expensive alternative of the realignment. The final approval of the realignment will be given by the CDA’s Development and Working Party.
Following the alignment, the project will be completed this year by August-September. According to the authority’s timetable, the Margalla Road project will be completed in three phases; construction work under phase I has already been completed by 70%.
Under the first phase of the project, the CDA will construct a portion of the road starting from G.T. Road and ending at D-12. An interchange and a small portion of 11th Avenue will be built to link it with Khayaban-i-Iqbal.
In phase 2, 8-km-long Bhara Kahu Bypass will be constructed from Murree Road near Quaid-i-Azam University to Satra Meel. While in phase 3, a road will be constructed to connect Murree Road with the Bhara Kahu Bypass.
The Margalla Road project is 33 kilometres long and is part of Islamabad’s Master Plan of 1969. According to CDA sources, construction work under the project’s Phase 2 is yet to begin. It is important to mention here that the project was awarded to the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) last year under Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) Section 42(f), which permits government-owned organisations to contract with other state-owned organisations.
Nauman Ahmad is an imaginative Pisces whose love for literature and nature is unparalleled. When he's not reading or hiking, he's sleeping and eating, which gives him plenty of energy for his next adventure.
