Staff Reporter
Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) on Monday directed the Capital Development Authority officials to ensure implementation of proper environmental management plan during I.J. Principal Road rehabilitation and widening project.
Addressing the Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIA) public hearing of the I.J. Principal Road rehabilitation and widening project held here at the Pak-EPA office, Director EIA Monitoring Ahsan Rafi Kiani said the CDA officials had to provide Traffic Diversion Plan, camp office location and baseline data revived report.
He said that all this data should be shared for finalisation of the EIA Report approval.
Kiani snubbed the CDA officials for missing out details pertaining to project cost, flyovers and pedestrians bridges to be built during the project.
He also rejected the CDA proposal to dump surplus material or waste generated at I-12 sector location during construction work at the project.
“The issue of I-12 sector is already under consideration at EPA as residential sector that could not be used as a dumping site,” he said.
He suggested the CDA officials to ensure necessary arrangement particularly the machinery related to transplantation of 1265 trees to be shifted from the project.
Kiani added that it was a dire need to study survival rate of the plants earlier transplanted in the federal capital and availability of the machine which as earlier borrowed in the development of G-7 underpass.
He also directed the CDA officials to devise a better location and working mechanism for batching plant operation during the project implementation.
While briefing on the project, the CDA official briefed that the total road length was 10.2 kilometers that would be rehabilitated and widened after adding two additional lanes on both sides of the already dual carriage way thoroughfare.
He added that the project was self financed and will be implemented in 18 months where the PC-I cost was Rs 6.9 billion and Rs120 million were allocated for environmental conservation and protection.
It was added that there would be two each bridges and flyovers established under the project which would start from Faizabad and culminate at N-5. He also confirmed that I-12 site would not be used rather Margalla Town site to be used as dumping site.
