Daily Times

Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan has decided to launch a special initiative for the renovation, cleanliness and restoration of historical sites of the old Peshawar city including Qissa Khawani Bazaar. The chief minister has directed the Commissioner Peshawar to formulate a comprehensive and feasible plan to this end. He was chairing a meeting held here to review progress on ongoing mega development projects in the provincial capital Peshawar, said an official handout issued here on Sunday.

Chief Secretary Dr. Shehzad Bangash, Additional Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Amjad Ali Khan, Secretary Local Government Mian Shakeel Ahmed, Commissioner Peshawar Riaz Mehsud and other concerned officials attended the meeting.

The meeting took a detailed review of various mega development projects including construction of new bus terminal, New Peshawar City, Regi Model Town, Peshawar Revival Plan and construction of the remaining portion of Ring Road.

Briefing the meeting about the progress on these projects, it was informed that, besides other initiatives to resolve traffic issues in Peshawar city, General Bus Stand was being shifted out of the city and for this purpose civil work on construction of new bus terminal on Northern Bypass was initiated while group breaking of the project would be performed very soon.

It was added that work had been started simultaneously on two packages of the project and it would be completed by October 2023 at a cost of Rs. 3.5 billion. Moreover, construction of Hazar Khawani Park in Peshawar had been completed and the facility would be opened to the public very soon.

It was further informed that a significant progress had been made on a mega housing scheme; New Peshawar City adding that land acquisition for the scheme under land sharing formula was underway.

The feasibility study, planning and detailed design of the project would be completed by May this year while progress was being made on the recruitment of staff for the project management unit.

The chief minister, on the occasion, directed the concerned authorities to complete the recruitment process for the Project Management unit within a month and strictly comply with the prevailing rules and regulations and merit should be ensured in all respects.

Briefing about the progress on construction of the remaining section of Ring Road from Warsak Road to Nasir Bagh, it was informed that the land acquisition process for the project had been completed for which the provincial government provided Rs. 2.8 billion.

The revised PC-1 of the project had been sent to ECNEC for final approval and its approval is expected soon. The project would be completed at a cost of Rs. 14.7 billion.

The meeting also discussed in detail issues related to land disputes in some zones of Regi Model Town and the Chief Minister directed Commissioner Peshawar and other concerned authorities to take steps in order to resolve the issue amicably through dialogue.

The Chief Minister directed the concerned authorities to expedite the implementation of Peshawar Revival Plan and implementation of Traffic Management Plan to resolve the traffic issues in the city on a permanent basis.

He also directed the quarters concerned to intensify the campaign against professional beggars in the city and finalize a strategy to curb the drug mafia.