CDA also rejects new Rs8 bn link road to Benazir Bhutto airport

[Salman]

ISLAMABAD: After Rawalpindi Development Authority’s strong rejection, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has also joined its voice against spending Rs8 billion on construction of a new route to the New Benazir Bhutto International Airport and has officially announced to stick to the plan of spending a few million to link the new airport with the already well-constructed Motorway.



The CDA on Wednesday delinked itself from the plan of spending Rs8 billion to link new airport with the twin cities saying that “the most workable/practical route linking the New Benazir Bhutto International Airport with Rawalpindi and Islamabad is through the Kashmir Highway, which links the Motorway Link Road up to Zero Point of Pakistan Motorway”.



The CDA spokesman said that it was not the capital’s civic body but Civil Aviation Authority which misled the prime minister on the project. It merits mentioning here that an aviation expert who was calling the shots a few weeks ago was hell bent upon spending Rs8 billion of the national kitty on a futile new route.



The RDA has been cautioning the CDA not to go for any other route, as proposed by the capital’s civic authority, but linking the already constructed Kashmir Highway with the new airport. RDA even went to the extent that it’s letter addressed to National Highway Authority says “the road network to NBBIA Islamabad proposed by CDA would not be worth considering.”



The News carried stories on the plan of CDA to waste Rs8 billion on construction of new route to link the airport with the twin cities instead of constructing only 4 kilometres of addition road to link the Zero-point Motorway with the newly constructed airport.



In response to The News stories the CDA issued its formal clarification and stance which is being reproduced hereunder: “With reference to the news item published in the Daily “The News” on September 09, 2013 captioned “PM was misled on Rs8 billion BB Airport Link Road”, the spokesperson of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) clarified that it did not give any presentation to the prime minister of Pakistan on the new route. It appears that the presentation was given by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) without consultation of CDA.



Spokesperson said that the most workable/practical route linking the new Benazir Bhutto International Airport (BBIAP) with Rawalpindi and Islamabad is through the Kashmir Highway, which links the Motorway Link Road upto Zero Point of Pakistan Motorway. Another additional 04 kilometre road is to be built to connect new BBIAP from this point onward. CDA in anticipation of the traffic from the new BBIAP on to the Kashmir Highway has already started widening of the Kashmir Highway.



Spokesperson of CDA further said that the new proposed route as mentioned in the news item through I & H Sectors was never considered since it is not a viable option at this stage as it involves acquisition of land and built up property. The new proposed road is a principal road between Sector I and H and low in hierarchy to Kashmir Highway, which is a major Highway”.



On the other hand, on September 10, 2013 the RDA once again wrote a letter to the NHA bearing ref no RDA-NP&TE/F -256/283 on the subject: Road network to new airport Islamabad which reads: “Based upon the technical and financial reasons narrated in the letter under reference, RDA again emphasises that the road network to NBBIA Islamabad proposed by CDA would not be worth considering. RDA is of the view that earlier proposed route via Kashmir Highway to NBBIA is the most suitable both technically and financially. Therefore same route be considered for project. In the light of the above RDA reiterates that earlier proposed route which technically and financially more viable be considered for development in the public interest