NHA ready to begin dualisation of Rawalpindi-Kahuta Road

NHA has decided to go forth with the dualization of the 28km road from Kaakpul to Kahuta – a project planned to be completed in two packages. Capital Development Authority (CDA) has been requested for a no-objection certificate (NOC) in order to start the construction work on the package I of the project. According to the NHA officials, the package I have comprised 16.5km in length which incorporates Sihala Railway Pass, Sihala bypass, and Kahuta bypass.

The two-lane way is the major road connecting Rawalpindi and Kahuta and is also being utilized by residents of Azad Kashmir. Its dualization had been looked forward to for a long while.

CDA had no inhibitions in giving the NOC approval for the project as 150 feet of right of way is already available for the dualization project. According to the CDA officials, CDA also asked NHA for the design of the project and stated that if any CDA infrastructure that fell in the right of way was affected/damaged, the NHA would be liable to repair it.

The project was initially planned in the year 2018 when Khaqan Shahnawaz was the Prime Minister, but it was later on shelved under the PTI regime. However, the project has now been revived under the PML-N Government and the allocation of funds has been observed in the Public Sector Development Programme of this fiscal year 2022-23.

Initially, the project was estimated to cost Rs. 13,012 million by the National Economic Council. However, a new budget of Rs. 1500 million has now been allocated for the project by the Government for the current fiscal year. Along with this, a new contractor has been selected and delegated to complete the construction work within 14 months post the start of the project.