Summary
- Despite the completion of the main route, a fresh controversy over the no-objection certificate (NOC) for its service area has disrupted plans.
- However, while active engineering work on eight toll plazas and 16 toll booths continues, a legal battle over the NOC for a 102-kanal, 14-marla service area being developed on both sides of the Ring Road has thrown the planned launch into jeopardy.
- Following the eruption of this new service area dispute, the Punjab government swiftly transferred former Commissioner Engineer Abdul Aamer Khattak, Deputy Commissioner Waqar Hassan Cheema, and former RDA DG Kunza Murtaza to the Services and General Administration Department (S&GAD).
The Rawalpindi Ring Road project, which has faced prolonged delays and repeated controversies, is again shrouded in uncertainty over whether it will be inaugurated on August 14. Despite the completion of the main route, a fresh controversy over the no-objection certificate (NOC) for its service area has disrupted plans. This latest dispute has, for a second time in the project’s history, led to the immediate removal of the local commissioner, deputy commissioner, and several other top administrative officials from their posts.
The mega infrastructure project was originally suspended during former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s tenure after sudden changes to its design and route expansion triggered a major political scandal. Since that initial suspension, the Punjab government has set and missed five consecutive completion deadlines. Following a site visit by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, targets were missed for December 30, 2025, followed by March 30, May 30, June 15, and a subsequent target to open the functional route between June 18 and June 22.
The sixth deadline of August 14 was established after the construction of the primary route from Banth Interchange to a direct motorway link, excluding the Thalian Interchange,was successfully completed. However, while active engineering work on eight toll plazas and 16 toll booths continues, a legal battle over the NOC for a 102-kanal, 14-marla service area being developed on both sides of the Ring Road has thrown the planned launch into jeopardy. A division bench of the Lahore High Court recently suspended a single bench’s order that upheld the NOC, fixing July 16 for the next formal hearing.
Following the eruption of this new service area dispute, the Punjab government swiftly transferred former Commissioner Engineer Abdul Aamer Khattak, Deputy Commissioner Waqar Hassan Cheema, and former RDA DG Kunza Murtaza to the Services and General Administration Department (S&GAD). Newly appointed Commissioner Salman Ghani, Deputy Commissioner Nadeem Nasir, and Abad Department Director General Rao Atif Raza have already assumed charge of their positions to oversee the remaining infrastructural work ahead of the court’s upcoming ruling.
