Many mega projects in Pakistan have often exceeded their initial costs due to the fact that the basic principles of project management are ignored while planning projects, said ICCI Acting President STOCK IMAGE
RAWALPINDI:
Despite repeated announcements throughout the year, Rawalpindi District Council, Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA), Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation, Rawalpindi Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) and District Development Committee failed to launch 13 development projects in Rawalpindi city, cantonment and rural areas by 2025.
All these mega projects have now been moved to the 2026 development list.
Throughout the year, officials from these institutions continued to make tall claims and feed the media about the impending launch of these projects, but they have now disappeared from the scene.
The stalled projects include the Leh Expressway, Mother and Child Hospital, Ghazi Brotha Water Project, Daducha Dam Project, Chahan Dam Water Supply Scheme, the completion of the ring road, five commercial parking lots, restoration of the 120-year-old Sajjan Singh building, rainwater storage projects, a city-wide sewerage system including a sewerage plant and recycling of sewage project. dilapidated public school buildings that have been in poor condition for over 20 years.
Meanwhile, Miyawaki’s forestry project aimed at controlling environmental pollution and a poultry breeding program that had been running profitably for four years were completely discontinued.
The estimated cost of the Leh Expressway was initially Rs17 billion, which has now increased to Rs70 billion.
The cost of the sewer tunnel project increased from Rs30 billion to Rs50 billion. The Ghazi Brotha water project, initially estimated at Rs19 billion, has crossed Rs100 billion, making it permanently unviable. Daducha Dam project cost increased from Rs6 billion to Rs15 billion, while rainwater storage projects escalated from Rs100 million to Rs500 million.
The Mother and Child Hospital consumed Rs.10 billion, with the building, air conditioning and all construction work completed, while machinery worth Rs.1.5 billion remained pending. After the change in regime, the project was shelved and the cost of refurbishing the machinery has now risen to Rs 4 billion.
The restoration cost of the historic Sajjan Singh building increased from Rs5 million to Rs20 million.
The 38-kilometer ring road was scheduled to be completed on December 31, 2025, but was halted due to lack of funds. Its new deadline is March 31, 2026, with a sharp increase in estimated costs. Due to these delays, residents of Rawalpindi continue to face severe water shortages and daily traffic jams. This year, no development funds were allocated to the Rawalpindi District Council, RDA, WASA or the Municipal Corporation.
As a result, 2025 turned out to be an extremely disappointing year for Rawalpindi in terms of development.
District Development Coordination Committee Convener and MNA Engineer Qamarul Islam said that for the first time a people-friendly development government had come to power in Punjab.
He claimed that all these projects would be launched in the new year, adding that the upcoming fiscal budget would be a fully development oriented budget.
