CDA For Dualization Of Pir Sohawa Road

News Desk

Islamabad: In order to cope with the increasing volume of traffic, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) is considering the dualization of Pir Sohawa Road, linking the scenic Margalla Hills National Park and the federal capital with the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, along with an alternate route to the Bari Imam area.

CDA Chairman Captain (R) Noor ul Amin Mengal informed the National Assembly Standing Committee on Climate Change and Environmental Coordination meeting on Wednesday that the increasing traffic and congestion on Pir Sohawa Road on a number of occasions have become a nuisance for the Capital Territory Administration.

“We are proposing another route from Monal to Bari Imam to reduce traffic and vehicular emissions. Surveys are underway for the dualization of the route and finding the alternate route,” Mengal added.

Noor ul Amin said the Pir Sohawa Road is a mess, and the heavy gases from vehicle emissions are having a negative influence on nature, posing a major risk to wildlife and the environment.

He noted that the civic agency is also working on PC-1 which involves establishing a reception and information centre in the national park along Pir Sohawa Road.

Chairman Mengal informed that the civic agency, for the first time in the past 70 years, has initiated fencing of the national park and that all its resources were available for the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB).

The F-9, which is one of the largest public parks, sprawled over 750 acres of land and is bigger than the famous Hyde Park in the UK. There are efforts underway to introduce rainwater harvesting recharge wells in that park to manage water for the plantation, Captain Amin further stated.

“We have issued Rs 20 billion in tenders for rural area road construction and have also hired a consultant to resolve local nuisance pollution,” he added.