Islamabad: The National Highway Authority (NHA) has allowed the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) to have direct access to the Lahore-Islamabad Motorway (M-2) through a dedicated interchange.
DHA had requested the road authority to allow the construction of the interchange to provide direct access to its Phase-9 project, which is being marketed under the brand name DHA Gandhara City.
The NHA, being the custodian of the right of way of the country’s national road network, is mandated to regulate access to all national highways and motorways across Pakistan.
Earlier, there was no provision for granting direct access from motorways to private ventures, as motorways are controlled-access roads with proper fencing in accordance with international standards.
An interchange providing access to the controlled-access network was previously allowed only under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) with the approval of the federal government. However, in 2019, private entities—including housing societies, medical cities, commercial hubs, factory outlets and theme parks—were allowed to construct dedicated interchanges on motorways at their own expense, subject to certain terms and conditions.
Under the policy, to avoid traffic congestion and ensure uninterrupted traffic flow, it was made mandatory that any new interchange should be at least 10 kilometres away from an existing one. Moreover, the interchange must be designed in accordance with specifications approved by the NHA.
However, in the case of DHA Gandhara, the proposed interchange would be located only seven kilometres from the already approved interchange for Capital Smart City on the Islamabad-to-Lahore side of the motorway. Besides seeking relaxation in the distance requirement, the DHA management also requested exemption from the hefty fixed charges normally payable to the NHA for a dedicated motorway interchange.
It is pertinent to mention here that private entities are required to pay a non-refundable processing fee of Rs5 million to the NHA. In addition, they must pay NOC charges based on the nature and size of the project. The applicable rates are Rs60,000 per kanal for housing societies, Rs50,000 per kanal for educational and medical cities, and Rs60,000 per kanal for industries, factory outlets and theme parks.
The request was placed before the NHA Executive Board during its 485th meeting held on 16 June 2026. After detailed deliberations, the board referred the matter to the National Highway Council (NHC), as the requested relaxation fell within its jurisdiction.
The NHC, headed by its Chairman Shuja-ud-Din Zaka, met on 22 June 2026 and deliberated on the matter in detail. Subsequently, the relevant section issued provisional approval for the dedicated interchange for DHA Gandhara, paving the way for the housing project to obtain direct access to the Lahore-Islamabad Motorway (M-2) through relaxation of the prescribed distance policy.
DHA Gandhara Phase-9 Islamabad, popularly known as Gandhara City, is a residential project of the Defence Housing Authority. The project has obtained the required NOC and is being developed in collaboration with the Army Welfare Trust (AWT) and Habib Rafiq (Pvt) Ltd (HRL).
