Amazing Margalla Hotel Islamabad

THE Capital Development Authority is out to give Islamabad a new face. Judging by the number of commercial, infrastructural, housing, and sport and recreational projects in the pipeline, the capital city will have a brand new image once these projects are completed within the next few years.

The most exciting commercial project is the multi-storey multi-purpose tower in Blue Area, whose construction process is scheduled to begin this year. With its futuristic eye-catching architectural design (which seems to symbolise the rolling Margalla hills and peaks), the yet-to-be-constructed building is already being dubbed as an icon that would promote and symbolise Islamabad in the same way that the now famous yacht sail design of the Burj Al-Arab, the first seven-star hotel in the world, is recognized around the world as a symbol of Dubai.

Incidentally, this would-be icon of Islamabad has been designed by the same international firm that conceptualised the Burj Al-Arab. The 30-storey building will comprise a 350-bedroom world-class hotel with a panoramic restaurant at the top capturing the views of the capital city and its mountainous skyline, a shopping mall and more than 300 service apartments. The building is said to be designed to sustain earthquakes up to 9.5 on the Richter Scale.

Four more top class hotels are also in the pipeline, viz., Sheraton Hotel in F-5, the Ritz Carlton Hotel and Le Meridian Hotel in the Convention Centre area, and the Al-Faysal Hotel in G-6.

Apart from these hotels, a string of government and private high-rise buildings will also be coming up soon. These include the Islamabad Stock Exchange Tower, the Telecom Tower and the State Life Tower (all three in Blue Area and under construction), Nadra headquarters in G-10 and CDA headquarters in G-8. Other private sector buildings include the Warid Plaza in Blue Area, Fortune Plaza in G-8/F-8, Telenor Plaza (completed) and Ammar Shopping Mall (near completion), the last two located in Jinnah Supermarket.

The tragic Margalla Towers episode notwithstanding, Islamabad’s skyline is poised to be dominated by many more multi- storey residential buildings, concentrated particularly in F-11 sector. Some of the residential buildings that are coming up or already up include Al-Rizwan Towers, Al-Mustafa Towers Valley Apartments, Crystal Courts, Park Avenue, Al-Safa Heights, Millennium Heights and Abu Dhabi Heights.

Never has Islamabad seen so much developmental activity since its establishment. Several major infrastructural projects have already been completed in the past two years. These involve mostly road construction, e.g., widening of Islamabad Highway into six lanes, dualization of Margalla Road, construction of 2nd Avenue linking Murree Road with Quaid-i-Azam University, and the extension of Constitution Avenue connecting it with Margalla Road in F-5.

The new-uniformed Islamabad Traffic Police plus the new blue-and-white-coloured road and street signs are already giving the capital a fresh new look. The standardized and improved signs are more useful for road users. For example, in the residential sectors the new street signs now indicate access to other street numbers or that the street is a no-through road. Many street signs also indicate the house numbers located in particular streets.

Many more ambitious road projects are underway or being planned. These include the Zero Point flyover, the three underpasses at Jinnah Avenue, the service road in sectors I-14 and I-15, the dualization of all service roads around each sector, Tarnol Interchange, Tarnol-Fateh Jang Road dualization, the Kashmir Highway extension (Motorway to the proposed new airport), Islamabad-Murree dual carriageway, the Ring Road project connecting Rawat to I-14, and the Pirwadhai-Faizabad Highway (the last four are under construction).

In addition to these infrastructural and commercial projects, a number of sports and recreational projects are also being executed or planned, the most prominent of which are the redevelopment of F-9 Fatima Jinnah Park, Rawal Dam area and Argentina Park; the establishment of a cultural complex at Shakarparian Hills and an Art and Craft Tourist Village at Saidpur; and the completion of the National Art Gallery. Meanwhile, some redevelopment of Pir Sohawa Point and Daman-e-Koh on the Margalla Hills as well as of Jinnah Supermarket, F-6 Supermarket and Melody Food Park have already taken place.

The road to development has not been a completely smooth-sailing one for CDA, which has been facing resistance in some of its road widening projects. CDA has tried to tackle this resistance by offering alternative places for affected stakeholders. For example, resistance to the widening of 7th and 9th Avenues by the three affected cricket clubs/grounds and a weekly bazaar have been resolved by persuading them to relocate to other nearby grounds which CDA would help to develop and equip with the latest facilities.

Resistance to the widening of a service road in the South Mauve Area from G-8 to G-10 sector also appears to have been resolved as work on widening the road has started recently. Some 38 government offices located along this road (including the Pakistan Post Headquarters, PTCL Headquarters, FIA Headquarters, KRL Hospital, the National Highway Authority and the National Police Foundation) had opposed the widening project because it would affect their car parking facilities across the road opposite their buildings.

However, two prominent development projects which have come under heavy fire, especially from environmentalists, are the Mini Golf Valley project in F-7 and the half-kilometre Margalla Tunnel through the Margalla Hills, which is supposed to link the federal capital with Haripur in NWFP expanding Islamabad in the north. The former project was terminated by a Supreme Court ruling against it two months ago.

While it is easier to develop from scratch on undeveloped grounds, it has been much more difficult to redesign and uplift old and cluttered developed areas, a process known in some countries as urban renewal or urban redevelopment. For example, CDA’s proposal to redevelop the existing Blue Area and give it a facelift has met with resistance from commercial plaza owners who are reluctant to renovate their buildings.

Moreover, CDA’s proposal of banning unwieldy and congested car parking in front of the shops and offices and its plan of establishing five multi-storey parking plazas for Blue Area visitors who will then have to pay for parking, have not exactly been met with enthusiasm either.

Similarly, CDA’s efforts to spruce up the old Aabpara Market, the first market to be established in the capital, by cleaning up encroachments, etc., have not been very successful.

Nevertheless, capital residents are watching the transformation of their city with pride. They are looking forward to the completion of the above mentioned and other mega projects like the new Islamabad International Airport and the new industrial estate at Chakri. To top it all, the capital will also be having the new GHQ in E-sector!

In fact, many feel that development is not progressing fast enough. For example, what is stalling projects such as the Zero Point flyover, the three underpasses on Jinnah Avenue and the dualization of the road from Pirwadhai to Faizabad?

Development, however, is not all concrete and stone. Development also means ensuring the provision of uninterrupted supply of essential utilities like clean water, gas and electricity to all residents of the Federal Capital Territory irrespective of sectors or zones. Annual water rationing and electricity loadshedding/cut-offs are no-nos in any modern city.

Finally, development also means the provision of affordable and qualitative healthcare and housing, as well as the provision of an efficient and reliable public transport service - something which is very much lacking in Islamabad.

Posted in: Pakistan Tourism