The Margalla Road realignment is approved by the CDA board

Friday, the board of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) agreed to slightly move Margalla Road near Shah Allah Ditta in order to save a graveyard that is over 100 years old.

Read more with EL news: The CM laid the cornerstone for Kandian Road in Kohistan

The board agreed to move the road to the south side and keep C-13 and D-12 in order to protect the graveyard. Phase I of Margalla Road, which goes from GT Road to D-12, is almost done being built. More than 70% of the work has already been done. But the graveyard in the area has caused problems for the contractor, Frontier Work Organisation (FWO).

Chairman Amer Ali Ahmed led the CDA board meeting where the realignment was approved and the member estate was told to start the process of compensating those whose houses will fall in the new alignment.

Before, the CDA was going to build a tunnel or a flyover to get around the cemetery.

The part of the road between G.T. Road and D-12 will be connected to Khayaban-i-Iqbal after an interchange and a small section of 11th Avenue are built.

A road that is still being built will be moved to the south side near Shah Allah Ditta to save a graveyard that is over 100 years old.

Part of Islamabad’s master plan is the 33-kilometer-long Margalla Road, which goes from G.T. Road to Bhara Kahu. The CDA decided to build it in three stages, though.

The CDA says that two phases will be built this year and the third will be built in the future if there is a need.

Work is going on on the first phase (from G.T. Road to D-12), and officials think it will be done by September of this year.

In the second phase, an eight-kilometer-long Bhara Kahu bypass will be built from Murree Road near Quaid-i-Azam University to Satra Meel. But there has been no real progress on the second phase (the Bhara Kahu bypass) because the CDA has not yet approved its PC-I.

Sources say that the Bhara Kau bypass was also talked about at the board meeting, and the board decided that Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) will get land in exchange for the land that will be taken up by the bypass road.

Park View Society

The Supreme Court told the CDA board to talk to the people in charge of Park View Society. After hearing what the society’s representatives had to say, the board decided to make a decision after getting a report from the administration of the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) and the Supreme Court’s orders.

The society’s non-objection certificate (NOC) was taken away by the CDA a few years ago after the Islamabad High Court found a number of legal and procedural problems. But the society’s leaders filed an appeal with the Supreme Court. Recently, the Supreme Court told the CDA to listen to the society’s complaints.

Employees being made permanent

In the meantime, the board agreed to make 140 lower-level CDA employees permanent, as long as they follow the rules and follow the recommendations of the departmental recruitment committee.

The board also agreed to add a post for a paediatrician in BPS-19 at the Capital Hospital so that the staff and people of Islamabad can get better health care. It also gave the Anti-Drugs Force (ANF) permission to build a rehabilitation center on four Kanals at G-11.

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