
RMC finalises Rs1.4b infrastructure, beautification project
The Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation (RMC) has finalised a major project worth Rs1.4 billion aimed at the carpeting, expansion and complete restoration of 16 key roads in the garrison city, along with an upgraded drainage system.
The project also includes the underground cabling and beautification of the historic Raja Bazaar and Commercial Market areas.
According to the sources, the tender for technical bids for the carpeting, expansion, and design of the 16 roads, as well as the completion of the uplift and drainage system, will be opened on May 13.
The 16 roads include Ganj Mandi Road, Liaquat Road, DAV College Road, Holy Family Road, Food Street Road, Siskat Road, Faisal Chowk to Door Line Road, ICP Institute Road to Old RWMC Road, Pir Panjra Chowk to Phagwari Road, Dhoke Dalal Road, Pir Wadhai Bridge to Dhoke Dalal Bridge, Bani Chowk to Asghar Mall Road Chowk, Gandum Mandi Novelty Cinema Road, Imambargah Road, and Degree College Asghar Mall Road.
However, the work for the restoration and carpeting of roads in Raja Bazaar and Commercial Market will only begin once the underground cabling project is completed.
The municipal corporation has already engaged consultants to oversee the underground cabling and beautification of these two areas. Based on the consultant's report, Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) will issue a demand note for the underground cabling project.
The agreement between the municipal corporation and IESCO stipulates that the municipal corporation will first obtain a report from the consultants to facilitate the issuance of two separate demand notes for the underground cabling work in Raja Bazaar and Commercial Market.

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Express Tribune
31-05-2025
- Express Tribune
Rs223m sought for Raja Bazaar cabling project
As part of the underground cabling and beautification project in Raja Bazaar, adjacent to the historic Fawara Chowk, utility agencies have issued demand notices totalling Rs 223.3 million to the Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation (RMC). The agencies include the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO), Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA), and Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL). Following the completion of a similar project in Saddar's commercial areas and the conversion of Bank Road into a pedestrian-only street, the RMC has approved similar plans for Raja Bazaar and Commercial Market. In the first phase, IESCO issued a demand notice of Rs185 million, SNGPL Rs30 million, WASA Rs5 million, and PTCL Rs3.3 million. Work on civil infrastructure and network shifting will commence once payments are made, after which beautification efforts will be undertaken by the municipal corporation itself. Meanwhile, demand notices for the Commercial Market project are yet to be received. Separately, the corporation has floated tenders worth Rs950 million for carpeting, expansion, and redesigning of 14 roads across the city, with work set to begin after Eidul Azha. In another development, the old Rose Cinema building — constructed before the creation of Pakistan and located in front of Fawara Chowk — has been demolished after lease expiry and the lifting of a court stay. The site, measuring one kanal and eight marlas, is now under the corporation's control and has been earmarked for a multi-storey parking plaza. The proposal has been sent to the Punjab government for final approval. Additionally, another five-storey parking facility is planned on the site of the former municipal office near Fawara Chowk, where an incomplete three-storey RDA parking plaza already exists. The structural design for the new facility has been prepared, and cost estimation is underway. With three parking plazas in the Fawara Chowk vicinity, the corporation anticipates improved traffic flow and enhanced parking options for shoppers in the commercial district. Chief officer Imran Ali stated that the corporation is focused on upgrading road infrastructure and completing the two ongoing underground cabling and beautification projects to provide citizens with improved facilities.


Express Tribune
22-05-2025
- Express Tribune
WASA settles debts after historic bailout
The Water and Sanitation Authority (WASA) has started clearing its long-standing dues to the government agencies after approval of Rs3.57 billion worth bailout package by the Punjab government. For the first time in its 28-year history, WASA Rawalpindi has received a bailout package to rescue it from a severe financial crisis and make it financially stable. This financial support will enable WASA to pay off long-standing dues owed to IESCO and CDA for the past 16 years. WASA, now upgraded to the WASA Authority, had repeatedly requested one-time bailout package from previous Punjab governments to address its financial difficulties. However, none of the past administrations approved such assistance. This time, WASA Rawalpindi, through the support of Punjab Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, requested the bailout package, which was approved by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz. As a result, Rs3.57b in funds were released to WASA. With this funding, WASA has cleared Rs1.98b in outstanding dues to IESCO, completely settling its liabilities. Additionally, the process has begun to clear Rs1.59b in pending payments to the Capital Development Authority (CDA) related to maintenance charges and cost-sharing for the Khanpur Dam Water Supply Project. These payments are expected to be completed within this week. Managing Director of WASA Rawalpindi, Muhammad Saleem Ashraf, says by June 2025, WASA will be free from all legacy liabilities for the first time since its inception. This milestone will position WASA to achieve a significantly improved financial standing in the upcoming fiscal year 202526 through increased collection of water supply and sewerage charges, the issuance of new water connections, and recovery of outstanding dues from consumers amounting to millions of rupees, he adds. The MD further notes that WASA is currently providing water supply and sewerage services to citizens at subsidised rates. In addition, it is working on projects to secure additional water from Rawal Dam and Khanpur Dam, along with ongoing projects at Chahan Dam and Daducha Dam. The completion of these new water supply projects and the upgrading of existing infrastructure will enable WASA to meet the water needs of Rawalpindi's residents more effectively, the MD says.


Business Recorder
17-05-2025
- Business Recorder
Another blow to development
EDITORIAL: To take money out of the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) and reallocate it as subsidy is not just bad policy — it's a confession. When the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) surrendered Rs50 billion from the PSDP to the Power Division to meet circular debt targets set by the IMF, it tacitly admitted that long-term development has once again been sacrificed at the altar of short-term survival. Even worse, this wasn't a contingency. The plan to fund solar tube wells in Balochistan was approved nearly a year ago. That it still wasn't reflected in budget allocations — and now requires a last-minute diversion of core development funding — says all that needs to be said about planning capacity and fiscal governance. That this comes amid chronic under-utilisation of the PSDP makes the decision all the more indefensible. According to the Planning Commission, just 41 percent of the revised PSDP allocation has been spent in 10 months. The total allocation had already been revised downward — from Rs1.4 trillion to Rs1.1 trillion — yet only Rs448.6 billion was utilised by end-April. Clearly, the problem is not a lack of available funds, but a near-systemic inability to spend them productively. The gap between funds released and funds utilised is particularly revealing. Of the Rs638 billion authorised for various ministries and divisions, only Rs339 billion has actually been spent. The PSDP release schedule from the Finance Division had allowed for 73 percent of funds to be disbursed by this point in the fiscal year. The fact that actual utilisation is lagging so far behind points to failures in coordination, execution, and oversight. Worse still is the complete inaction by several ministries. The commerce, communications, and religious affairs divisions, among others, have spent nothing from their PSDP allocations so far. This is not merely inefficiency — it is dereliction. Ministries that cannot spend even a fraction of their budgetary authorisations are not just administratively weak, they are obstructing national development itself. And yet, one line item has bucked the trend: funds earmarked for parliamentarians. Against a revised allocation of Rs25 billion, a full Rs35 billion has already been spent. In a year where so many ministries failed to move a rupee, development funds for elected officials have not only been fully disbursed, they've overshot the budget. This alone captures how public money continues to be lavished on political priorities at the cost of national ones. The government has claimed that the Rs50 billion reallocated to the Power Division will help solarise 27,000 tube wells in Balochistan. While the solarisation plan may have merit, the fact that Rs14 billion had already been disbursed under this head shows that it was an established project — yet one that never made it into actual planning frameworks or development allocations. Now, instead of correcting that oversight, the government is plugging the hole by cannibalising PSDP funds, further diminishing the scope of broader development. All this is happening during a time of rare macroeconomic breathing room. The IMF's recent satisfaction with Pakistan's performance and a relatively low inflation environment had created a small window for consolidating fiscal reform and rebooting growth. Instead, mis-governance is squandering it. For yet another year, PSDP utilisation is likely to fall well short of target—continuing a pattern of underperformance that spans governments and budget cycles. It is telling that this year, ministries were asked to surrender unspent funds a month earlier than usual. While this may have been intended to enforce discipline, it has instead amplified confusion. Some divisions reportedly cut their development activity prematurely, fearing that delayed paperwork would result in permanent loss of funds. That budget management is still subject to such reactive, uncoordinated decision-making speaks volumes about the institutional fragility of the system. Pakistan cannot afford to treat development spending as a flexible account. The PSDP is not a slush fund to be redirected when convenient — it is the country's primary lever for building infrastructure, improving services, and fostering long-term growth. But unless budgeted funds are actually spent, and unless they are spent well, none of this matters. Time and again, successive governments have failed to meet development targets not because of economic constraints alone, but due to inefficiency, poor governance, and often outright neglect. In the end, the numbers speak for themselves. Billions remain unspent, core ministries are dormant, yet parliamentarians are flush with funds. And once again, what passes for planning is little more than posturing. It's not just wasteful — it's unforgivable. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025