Islamabad: Rawalpindi Commissioner Gulzar Hussain Shah has cancelled the land acquisition process along the aborted route of the Rawalpindi Ring Road (RRR) project and ordered the revenue authority to recover the amount worth PKR 2.3 billion paid to the landowners, according to news sources.
It was mentioned in the order passed by the commissioner that the land acquisition process is being revoked along the illegally advertised alignment of the mega road infrastructure project in the districts of Rawalpindi and Attock. It was also stated that to determine the recoverable amount, a special audit report, which was conducted by the Punjab directorate, should be considered along with the compensation payment records maintained by the relevant offices including the office of land acquisition collectors (LAC) of Rawalpindi and Attock. Also, the commissioner ordered to deposit the recovered amounts in the relevant head of account subject.
As per the Section 48 of the Land Acquisition Act (LAA), 1894, the commissioner has the authority to rescind any land acquisition process if the possession has not been taken. The collector will decide the compensation amount for the damages experienced by the owner as a result of the notice and will pay an amount to the interested person along with all the costs incurred by them while implementing the proceedings under LAA.
Moreover, all the land acquisition proceedings are to be considered invalid including the Section 4 process and awards on the illegally advertised RRR alignment and proceedings for design changes according to the approved fact-finding inquiry report by the Punjab chief minister.
It was also informed in the order that the special audit report by the Directorate General of Audit Works stated a violation of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules and contractual obligations. This resulted in the addition of unapproved alignment in the feasibility study and detailed design of the RRR project and illegal payments. Land possession was also mentioned in the report; however, the deputy commissioners of Rawalpindi and Attock stated that no land was possessed by the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA).
Additionally, the Punjab government appointed a three-member fact-finding committee, which was headed by the commissioner to investigate the RRR project. The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) of Punjab investigated more than 21,000 pages and informed that the realignment was approved by the previous government. As a result, the Attock loop was created and it increased the construction cost of the project. Furthermore, the government asked National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to conduct an investigation along with a special audit of the project.
Iqra holds BS in International Relations and is passionate about writing engaging content on trending real estate topics. When not working, she is either spending time with family, shopping, or discussing shows & movies.
