LAHORE - The four-lane 128km long Lilla-Jhelum Road will connect GT Road to motorway, facilitating hundreds and thousands of commuters besides creating job opportunities for the locals. A sum of Rs15 billion will be spent on this project.
This was stated by Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar during an address to the foundation stone laying ceremony of Lilla-Jhelum dual carriageway at the PM office on Tuesday. He extended felicitations to the residents of Jhelum, PD Khan and Mandi Bahauddin over initiation of the project and pointed out that the Rs33 billion worth Jalalpur irrigation project would usher in an era of development.
“PM Imran Khan had laid the foundation stone of this project two years ago,” he stated. “At least 1.75,000 acres of land in the Jhelum and Khushab districts will be irrigated by the project along with the provision of clean drinking water to 26 villages,” the CM added. He said that the canal system of the Jalalpur irrigation project would be operationalised by June 2023 and added that 103 development schemes were being completed with Rs11.23 billion to develop the Jhelum district on modern lines.
While giving details of the development vision of the government, the CM said that 13 PSDP road sector schemes were being started on the instructions of PM Imran Khan with an amount of Rs82.10 billion. “Similarly, four major roads of 506km length will be constructed with ADB assistance in Punjab with an amount of Rs130 billion,” added Usman Buzdar. The chief minister said that the construction of 204km long Chichawatni, Rajana, Pir Mahal, Chowk Azam, Layyah and Taunsa roads was being started with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank.
“Similarly, the construction of 107km long Jhang-Shorkot Road will also be commenced soon,” he added. “Alongside, the construction of 75km long road from Hasilpur to Bahawalnagar will be started soon. The construction of 150km long Depalpur-Pakpattan-Vehari Road is also a part of this programme,” he added. The CM said that 174 schemes for the construction of 1,206km long roads, with an amount of Rs15billion, had been completed in the first phase of Naya Pakistan Manzilain Asaan project. “As many as 154 schemes for the construction and repair of 1076km long roads will be soon completed with Rs14.5 billion in the second phase of this programme,” he continued. “Similarly, 1,785 schemes for the construction and repair of roads in the current ADP will also be completed with Rs379.31 billion,” he added.
The CM lamented that no attention was paid to road maintenance in the past and as a result, the condition of the 100000km long road network worsened. “The current government is going to start 13 projects in Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode,” he said.
“Work will be started on Multan-Vehari Road and Sargodha-Faisalabad Road. Work is in progress at brisk pace on Sheikhupura-Gujranwala Road. Third-party validation of every ADP project will be done and schemes will be completed in time. The development journey will be continued, and Punjab and other parts of the country will continue moving forward under the leadership of PM Imran Khan,” the CM concluded.
