Islamabad, Local administration officials on Wednesday selected land for establishment of a women college in Bhara Kahu and handed it over to the education department.

It will be the first women college to be built in the rural area after a decade under the Islamabad Development Package that was launched by the previous government in 2006.

The Capital Development Authority (CDA) provided the 40 kanals in Bhara Kahu to the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) on subsidised rate for the project.

Chief Commissioner Islamabad Tariq Mehmood Pirzada, CDA Member Planning Tahir Shamshad, Director FDE Waqar Shah and others selected the site for the college.

“We have selected the land and handed it over to the education department,” said the CDA member planning.

The PPP-led coalition government continued the Rs4.3 billion Islamabad Development Package initiated by the previous government which focused on development of the rural area including construction of roads, water supply, sanitation, irrigation, health, education and agricultural development.

The package was commissioned in 2006 under the supervision of PML-Q Islamabad chapter president Dr Mohammad Amjad.

The CAD is responsible for the development, maintenance and provision of civic facilities in urban area of the capital while in the rural area it is done by the local administration.

When contacted, Director General FDE Shaheen Khan said the site had been selected and further steps regarding the construction of the college would be taken according to new plan of the college.

She said the site plan of the college would be prepared in accordance with the land provided by the CDA. “We cannot prepare the site plan without knowing the actual size of the land,” she said.

The FDE chief was reluctant to tell the estimated cost of the project. However, she confirmed that the women collage in rural area of the capital was being established after a decade.

A resident of Bhara Kahu and former senator Nargis Zaman, who played a major role in convincing the present and former governments to establish the college, told Dawn that there was a dire need for the college in the area.

The education department had constructed the building of a technical college in Bhara Kahu several years back but it is still lying vacant.