Margallah Tunnel Project to be considered again: CDA

Islamabad: Capital Development Authority is going to plan the controversial Margallah Tunnel Project again after about three years.

According to sources CDA Chairman has issued an order recently to plan Margallah Tunnel project. The Planning Section has started working in this regard. Sources further said that about three years ago the then Chairman of CDA, Kamran Lashari, had planned the Margallah Tunnel project on the directives of President (Retd) Gen Pervez Musharraf but later CDA had shelved this decision after protests by the civil society.

As per details Margallah Tunnel is a way through the hills to link Haripur to Islamabd. This strange project was floated by some powerful real estate agents and some hidden hands, sources added.

Roedad Khan, President of Margallah Hills Society, said that Haripur has a population of about 6,92,000. This is 3.9% of the population of NWFP. While the development indicators show that Haripur is better off than the most of districts of NWFP. It is still a poor area with vast unmet needs. Surely, the people of Haripur would benefit more from expansion of social services and development of agriculture, industry and power availability, benefiting the public at large rather an additional road link with Islamabad.