Rawalpindi: Commissioner Captain (retired) Mohammad Mehmood recently announced the development of a total of six parking and commercial plazas spread within the city and its cantonment areas — with the initiative aimed at resolving the public’s concerns stemming from the issues of traffic congestion and illegal parkings, according to news sources.
The commissioner revealed this
information during a press briefing, informing the gathered crowd that the divisional
administration had already identified the six sites for the aforementioned plazas.
He further informed that three storeys in the said plazas would be allocated
for parking of 2 and 4-wheel vehicles, while the remaining three floors would
contain commercial shops.
The Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) and district administration have been instructed to initiate work on the building plans in a timely manner. The commissioner stated that this project was aimed at repurposing unutilised land for parking and commercial use. He said that these plazas would generate funds for the local administration that would be used for development initiatives.
Commissioner Mehmood constituted
a committee including deputy commissioner and RDA directors of ‘architecture,
engineering, state land, finance, metropolitan and traffic engineering’. The committee
was tasked with gathering information on traffic flow and other relevant data
required to prepare a feasibility report for the project.
The identified sites for the construction of parking plazas were located at City Saddar Road (17 kanals, property of Rawalpindi Metropolitan Corporation), Banni Chowk Market (6 kanals), Commercial Market Satellite Town (8 kanals), Bagh Sardaran on Ghazni Road (6 kanals), Old GTS bus stand on Adamjee Road in Saddar (6 kanals), and Kutchery Chowk on Airport Road (6 kanals).
In addition, the committee will
also locate other sites near densely-populated areas and commercial sections of
the city to reduce the burden on public roads. The commissioner further said
that state-owned lands would be preferred for these projects, and that they would
be developed on a public-private partnership model.
Hazafa reveres the art of writing and has been turned into a property enthusiast by profession. Her daily survival kit includes; tea, coffee, keyboard and paperbacks.
