The Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) has failed to meet the deadline of June 30 to finish work on the parking plaza at Fawara Chowk, as only 55% of work on the project has been completed so far. The work on the parking plaza began during the last fiscal year 2010-2011 and it was scheduled to be completed by June 30, 2011. It was to be inaugurated in the first week of July 2011. According to well-placed sources, the major reason behind delay in completion of the first phase of the project was shortage of funds. The project was to be completed through self-generated revenue worth Rs90 million. The work on the project remained suspended for three months due to the problem of drainage system starting from the project site to Liaquat Road.
The main objective behind the project was to put an end to traffic jams at Fawara Chowk and on Liaquat Road, Jinnah Road and Novelty Cinema Road. The components of the project included a five-storey parking plaza and shopping centre at the Fawara Chowk. The RDA had also removed the Suzuki pick-up, taxi and wagon stand from the spot without providing any alternative site to transporters, who have no option but to park their vehicles along Jinnah Road creating further traffic problems.
When ‘The News’ contacted RDA Director General Makeen Shahbaz to comment over the matter, he said that they were way behind the schedule. “However, I have given special orders to the concerned officials to at least complete the first phase of the project by the end of September this year,” he said. He added that with the completion of work on first phase of the project, 50% load of traffic would reduce on Liaquat Road and Jinnah Road and more than 400 vehicles, including cars, cabs, Suzuki pick-ups and coasters, could be parked in the basement and ground floor of the building. Talking to ‘The News,’ people expressed dismay over the delay in completion of first phase of the project.
