CDA Advances Rs1.4bn Kashmir Chowk Underpass, Environmental Hearing Scheduled for September 21

The Capital Development Authority is moving forward with the proposed Rs1.4 billion Kashmir Chowk, also known as Dhokri Chowk, Underpass near Islamabad Club on Murree Road, with a public hearing on the project's Environmental Impact Assessment scheduled for 21 September 2026 at Gandhara Citizen Club in F-9 Park, under the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997. CDA has opened the technical bid process, though financial bids cannot yet be opened due to a grievance filed by one of the two competing bidders.

What the Underpass Is Actually Designed to Fix

Under the proposed traffic arrangement, vehicles travelling from the Serena side toward Rawalpindi will use the underpass itself, while traffic heading toward Murree will travel over the structure's top slab, separating two major, currently conflicting traffic movements that converge at this single intersection. Kashmir Chowk sits at a genuinely significant junction, carrying traffic between Murree Road, the Serena area, Rawalpindi, and central Islamabad, and the absence of any direct underpass link here has long meant that traffic from Murree Road heading toward Srinagar Highway must first pass through this same congested roundabout.

Why This Location Has Needed a Fix for Years

This is not a newly identified problem. Residents of Azad Kashmir, Murree, and adjoining areas including Bhara Kahu had for years pressed CDA to construct an underpass on Murree Road specifically to provide direct entry into Srinagar Highway, since without it, traffic coming from Murree has had to route through Kashmir Chowk to make the turn. CDA's engineering wing was directed to design this specific underpass following that sustained public demand, and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and Minister of State Talal Chaudhry formally approved the underpass design during a CDA briefing that also approved a companion project, an underpass at the Faisal Avenue and Margalla Road junction, known as Shaheen Chowk.

The Current Procurement Dispute

Two construction firms, Habib Construction Services and MS Kamran Khan, also known as Kundi Group, submitted technical bids for the project. During evaluation, CDA declared Kundi Group non responsive, prompting the firm to file a formal grievance with the authority. Officials have said financial bids cannot be opened until this complaint is resolved, with a CDA official indicating the matter is expected to be decided within roughly 15 days of the grievance being filed. If CDA rejects the grievance, the bidder retains the right to escalate the matter to the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority. A CDA engineer described the grievance process itself as routine procedure available to any company declared non responsive, rather than evidence of any irregularity in the bidding process. Both firms carry a genuine CDA track record, with Kundi Group having completed the IJP service road and Faizabad loop expansion, and Habib Construction Services having delivered the Serena Interchange, the earlier Murree Road underpass, the T Chowk Flyover, and the Shaheen Chowk underpass over the preceding two years.

Why the Environmental Hearing Matters Given Recent Flooding

The scheduled Environmental Impact Assessment hearing arrives at a genuinely pointed moment, following severe urban flooding across Islamabad and Rawalpindi that has intensified public scrutiny of the twin cities' drainage infrastructure and development planning more broadly. An underpass built at a major traffic junction inherently interacts with the surrounding area's stormwater and drainage capacity, since underpasses themselves are structurally vulnerable to water accumulation during heavy rainfall if drainage provisions are inadequate. Given this, the September 21 hearing represents a genuine opportunity for residents, planners, and civic groups to raise drainage and flood resilience concerns specifically in relation to this project, rather than treating the EIA process as a procedural formality.

What Remains Before Construction Begins

Technical evaluation, resolution of the current grievance, financial bid opening, and the environmental hearing itself all still stand between this announcement and the start of physical construction. Readers should treat this as a project genuinely progressing through procurement, with real ministerial backing and design approval already in place, but not yet at the construction stage.

What This Means for Property and Commercial Activity Along Murree Road

Murree Road functions as a major artery connecting central Islamabad, the Serena area, Kashmir Chowk, Rawal Dam, Faizabad, and onward toward Rawalpindi, and reduced congestion at this specific junction could meaningfully improve accessibility for residential and commercial property throughout the corridor once completed. Property and business owners near Kashmir Chowk and along Murree Road should watch both the resolution of the current bidding grievance and the outcome of the September 21 environmental hearing as the next concrete milestones, and should specifically factor the project's drainage and flood resilience design, given the timing of this hearing amid the current flooding crisis, into their own assessment of the corridor's future development quality.

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Sources

1. Capital Development Authority, official gallery, "Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Lays Foundation Stone of Shaheen Chowk Underpass Project": https://www.cda.gov.pk/cdaImagesGallery/prime-minister-shehbaz-sharif-lays-foundation-stone-of-shaheen-chowk-underpass-project
2. Wikipedia, Murree Road: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murree_Road